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Detecting Consumer Cynicism toward Ethical Marketing in Real/Natural

Beauty Campaigns (RNBCs) through the use of Semi-Structured Interviews

Author:

Natalia Rodrigues Memoria Sousa

Candidate Number: 65875

A dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol in accordance with the requirements

of the degree of Master of Science by advanced study in Management in the faculty of

Social Sciences and Law

School of Economics, Finance and Management

September 2014 Word Count: 15,870

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Abstract

This paper seeks to detect whether or not consumers are cynical toward the hypocritical

behaviour of fashion and cosmetic companies who undertake real/natural beauty

campaigns (RNBCs). It does this through the explorative use of semi-structured

interviews, before framing the data within a pre-existing theoretical framework of

consumer cynicism devised by Odou and Pechpeyrou (2011). In order to do this, several

steps are taken. Firstly, in the comprehensive literature review, hypocrisy is defined as a

disparity between practice and message. Hypocrisy is then identified within four

companies undertaking RNBCs (Dove, Body Shop, Selfridges, and Victoria Secret).

Consumer cynicism is defined, and the framework of Odou and Pechpeyrou’s ‘four types

of consumer cynicism’ (2011) is adopted for the subsequent interpretation of data. Prior

recoded examples of cynicism toward RNBCs are summarised in order to place the later

discussion in a broader context. During the methodology, philosophical assumptions are

outlined, before the method and approach are justified. Thematic analysis is then chosen

as the most suitable means of data refinement. During the results section the data is

documented and organised. Within the findings section, the results are interpreted within

the aforementioned framework of the ‘four types of cynicism’. The results will then be

discussed in relation to the literature review during the discussion section. The paper will

be concluded with an examination of the importance and ramifications of the research,

potential future research, and a final recapitulation of the achievements of the paper.

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Dedication and acknowledgements

I am dedicating this dissertation to everyone that took part in the dissertation and that

supported me during my studies. First of all I would like to say thanks to my tutor

Annalaura Marini, for helping me get through this challenging phase of my Master’s degree.

Secondly, I would like to dedicate this dissertation to my parents for supporting me all

these years through my studies. I also would like to acknowledge the help of my boyfriend

Greg Williamson for proofreading and transcribing the interviews. Finally, I would like to

thank all participants who took part in my study.

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Author’s Declaration

I declare that the work in this dissertation was carried out in accordance with the

Regulations of the University of Bristol. The work is the original except where indicated by

special reference in the text and no part of the dissertation has been submitted for any

other degree.

Any views expressed in the dissertation are those of the author and in no way represent

those of the University of Bristol.

The dissertation has not been presented to any other University for examination either in

the United Kingdom or overseas.

SIGNED: DATE:

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction 8

2. Literature Review 10

2.1. Message and Practice 10

2.1.1. Defining Message and Practice 10

2.1.2. Examples of Practice 12

2.1.3. Examples of Message 12

2.2. Real/Natural Beauty Campaigns (RNBCs) 14

2.2.1. Exemplar RNBCs 15

2.2.2. Potential Hypocrisy in RNBCs 17

2.3. Consumer Cynicism 22

2.3.1. Consumer Cynicism toward CSR 25

2.3.2. Consumer Cynicism toward RNBCs 26

2.4. Summary 27

3. Methodology 28

3.1. Research Question 28

3.2. Research Philosophy 28

3.3. Research Method 30

3.3.1. Induction, Deduction and Exploration 30

3.3.2. Qualitative and Quantitative Data 31

3.4. Research Design 32

3.5. Participants and Materials 33

3.6. Ethical Compliance 33

3.7. Questions 34

3.8. Data Collection and Collation 35

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3.9. Proposed Analysis 35

3.10. Limitations 37

3.10.1. Data Collection 37

3.10.2. Analysis 38

3.11. Summary 38

4. Results 40

4.1. Themes 41

4.2. Categorisation and Frequency 43

4.3. Relations, Pattern, and Overlap 44

5. Findings and Discussion 46

5.1. Findings 46

5.2. Discussion 48

5.2.1. Defensive Cynicism 48

5.2.2. Subversive Cynicism 49

5.2.3. Comments on Victoria Secret campaign 50

6. Conclusion 51

7. References 52

Appendices 57

Appendix 1: RNBCs of Dove, Body Shop, Selfridges and Victoria Secret 57

Appendix 2: Interview Questions 62

Appendix 3: Transcriptions 65

Appendix 4: Screen Shots of the Coding Process 105

Appendix 5: Direct Quotes (plotted on the four types of consumer cynicism) 106

Appendix 6: Application for Ethical Approval 109

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List of Figures

Figure 1: 1997 – Self-Esteem Campaign 16

Figure 2: 2000s UK – The Body Shop Magazine Advert 16

Figure 3: 2000s UK – The Body Shop Magazine Advert 19

Figure 4: The Body Shop Advert 19

Figure 5: The Body Shop Magazine Advert 19

Figure 6: The Body Shop Magazine Advert 19

Figure 7: Four types of cynicism 23

Figure 8: Six phases of thematic analysis 36

Figure 9: Categorised themes with frequencies of occurrence 43

Figure 10: Visual Schema of relationships, patterns and overlap of themes 44

Figure 11: Data plotted against the four types of cynicism 46

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1. Introduction

In this paper, a trend is identified in which marketing campaigns emphasise the real and

natural beauty of women in their adverts. However, the organisations which are discussed

in this paper are in the odd position of running real/natural beauty campaigns (RNBCs),

which celebrate unadulterated and diverse images of female beauty, while simultaneously

selling cosmetics or fashion items. Particularly, RNBCs from Dove, Body Shop, Selfridges,

and Victoria Secret have been identified as hypocritical using a measure of message versus

practice. Measuring hypocrisy by comparing message and practice is based in large part

on the work of Fassin and Buelens (2011), in which an organisation’s communication is

compared with implementation in order to locate it on a hypocrisy-sincerity continuum.

The research question for this paper is: Are consumers cynical about the intent behind

RNBCs of potentially hypocritical organisations? Will consumers identify and condemn the

hypocrisy of these companies?

Research on this question has not been found to exist at the time of writing. Consequently,

it is unclear what, if any, predictions can be made as to what the answer may be. Some

cynicism has been detected in the past literature, however this was not in experimental

conditions and many of the cynics were critics and commentators (such as Dye, 2009;

Austen-Smith and Galinsky, 2007), or consumer activists. Therefore, any prediction would

be an educated guess and not theoretical.

This research will therefore be explorative yet directional. For this reason, it will be carried

out using semi-structured interviews. The data will be coded and treated to thematic

analysis. The results are then interpreted using a theoretical background of the ‘four types

of cynicism’ devised by Odou and Pechpeyrou (2011). This is done so as to aid in the

interpreting of large quantities of data, which can be challenging without a prior

framework (Braun and Clarke, 2008). In answer to the research question, the results do

detect some forms of cynicism within the data. Specifically, defensive cynicism and to a

lesser extent subversive cynicism (Odou and Pechpeyrou, 2011) are found. The discussion

will refer the results and the findings back to the literature review, particularly any

documented examples of cynicism toward RNBCs, to place the research in a wider context.

In summary, the achievements of the paper will be: define hypocrisy as a disparity

between practice and message; delimit and explore the area of interest, namely RNBCs;

identify hypocrisy within the area of interest; define types of (consumer) cynicism and

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determine their respective characteristics; summarise prior instances of cynicism toward

RNBCs for the later discussion. Following this, the paper will: justify the method and

research approach of this work; expound the means of analysis; document the results;

interpret the results within a theoretical framework of consumer cynicism; discuss the

results with relation to literature; before finally concluding with an examination of the

importance and ramifications of the work.

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2. Literature Review

During this literature review several things will be achieved. Firstly, a means of classifying

organisational hypocrisy will be developed. This will then be applied to several companies

and their respective Real/Natural beauty campaigns (RNBCs) in order to determine

whether or not they are hypocritical. It will be demonstrated that the RNBCs of Dove, Body

Shop, Selfridges, and Victoria Secret can be deemed hypocritical and potentially

susceptible to consumer cynicism. Literature on consumer cynicism will be used to refine

a working definition of consumer cynicism suitable for this research. ‘The four types of

consumer cynicism’ (Odou and Pechpeyrou, 2011) will be described and evaluated as a

theoretical framework within which the subsequent data of the research may be

positioned. Lastly, documented cynicism toward RNBCs will be summarised and will later

serve as context in the discussion.

2.1. Message and Practice

In this section two terms will be defined: message and practice. The distinction is not a new

one. Indeed, the following framework should be seen as a variation on the work of Fassin

and Buelens (2011) in which the authors developed a sincerity/hypocrisy continuum on

which corporations can be located. Their work weighs a corporation’s actions against their

subsequent communication of said actions before plotting the various results upon the

sincerity/hypocrisy continuum. Finally, salient examples of organisations’ practice and

message will be reviewed in order to highlight the distinction in real world scenarios.

2.1.1. Defining Message and Practice

In their work on establishing the sincerity/hypocrisy continuum, Fassin and Buelens

(2011) draw the distinction between an organisation’s implementation of ethical

behaviour and their efforts in communication of their ethical behaviour. Their distinction

is one which will be central to determining whether or not an organisation is hypocritical

and therefore susceptible to consumer cynicism.

The distinction drawn here, however, will be between the message which an organisation

promotes through marketing communications, particularly in advertisements, and the

practice of the organisation. There is a subtle difference between the

implementation/communication distinction and the practice/message distinction, namely

the latter dichotomy (practice/message) is broader and entails the former

(implementation/communication). The term implementation refers to those activities

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which involve corporate social responsibility. The term practice however refers to all the

activities of the company. Moreover, the term communication is used by Fassin and

Buelens (2011) to refer to that communication of an organisation which reports its

implementation, its ethical efforts. The term message will here be used more broadly, again,

to refer to any attempt to communicate an ethical standpoint of the organisation, whether

it be reporting ethical efforts or simply running an advertising campaign which makes use

of a fashionable ethical topic. This broadening of the definition of ‘hypocrisy’ consequently

includes potential scenarios which the definition of Fassin and Buelens would exclude,

despite intuitively being examples of hypocrisy. For example, many companies stress the

importance of healthy eating and avoiding fatty foods, while simultaneously advertising

low-fat cereal bars which have high levels of refined sugar. It is not clear whether

situations like this would conform to the definition of hypocrisy as distance between

implementation and communication within the paradigm outlined by Fassin and Buelens

(2011), despite intuitively being a perspicuous example of what many people would deem

hypocritical behaviour. Following the definition expounded here of practice/message it is

clear that this situation can be identified as hypocritical behaviour.

In continuation then, ethical marketing practice can be defined, following Brenkert

(2008:40), as “a kind of practical [marketing] activity that encompasses broader value and

normative bases of a social and moral nature” and is “not constituted by some narrow form

of self-interest”. Conversely, an ethical marketing message may, but need not, agree with

any particular beliefs or behaviour. Consequently, the action of communicating an ethical

message and the act of practicing ethical marketing need not necessarily coincide. Indeed,

a company can practice ethical marketing behaviour without communicating a particular

message to the public, likewise a company may communicate an ethical message without

acting in a way which conforms to ethos of the message. Real world scenarios will probably

involve both ethical practice and an ethical message. But each case could potentially differ

in the amount of practice relative to the amount of communication involved.

Fassin and Buelens (2011) argue that by quantifying and calculating a given organisation’s

implementation in relation to its communication, one can place the organisation on a

sincerity/hypocrisy continuum. This practice will prove useful when formulating

predictions with regards to the consumer opinions which will be elicited during research.

If an organisation can be located on the sincerity/hypocrisy continuum we would expect

to find that consumer opinions of the organisation may, at least indirectly, reflect this.

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2.1.2. Examples of Practice

According to Bokaie (2008:24) Asda won the title of “2007 Environmental Multiple

Retailer of the year” at the Retail Industry Awards as a result of devoting funds which it

could have spent on promoting its efforts to be “green”, to initiatives like further cutting

prices for its customers.

Other such praiseworthy practice comes from Marks & Spencer, which the Bokaie (2008)

states recently kept the title of the ‘green crown’ in the 2008 Chatsworth FTSE 100 green

survey for going through with its plans to be green as opposed to broadcasting its efforts.

These are occasions during which organisations had the opportunity to publicise positive,

and importantly true, messages which highlight their ethical behaviour. Instead of which,

the organisations chose to redirect their resources into further ethical practice, or

implementation in the terms of Fassin and Buelens (2011).

According to Batson, Collins and Powell (2006) a good example of moral agency is the well

reported story of Aaron Feuerstein the then owner of Malden Mills in Massachusetts. In

1995 the textile factory was destroyed by the largest fire Massachusetts had suffered in

recent history. As the owner, Feuerstein could claim roughly $300 million in insurance,

with many expecting him to retire or move the company to an area with cheaper labour.

However, “Feuerstein did neither. He stayed in Lawrence to rebuild the only hope of a

decent job for many of its citizens. He also paid all Malden employees their full salaries for

60 days during rebuilding – at a cost of over $25 million.” (Batson, et al.:333). Again, this

is a clear example of ethical practice without concern for relaying the news to the public.

2.1.3. Examples of Message

Starbucks pride itself for promoting a mutual beneficial relationship with coffee farmers

by paying fairer prices than most of its competitors and in return it receives high-quality

coffee from their farmers. Furthermore, they claim to sell fair trade coffee in their

restaurants. However, as highlighted by Bloomer (2006), recently Starbucks seems to have

a very limited commitment to its claim of being a fair-trade company. Bloomer (2011)

writes, in an article in The Guardian, that “there’s a real opportunity here for Ethiopia to

capitalise on the consistently high quality of its coffees by being able to trademark their

coffee name and control how these names are used by others”, however Starbucks appears

to be opposed to this idea as behind the scenes it is “using its power and influence to

oppose this initiative so it can continue to charge up to £14 per pound for speciality

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Ethiopian coffees, while the farmer who supply that coffee earn between 30p and 59p for

their crop”. According to Bloomer (2011) these costs are barely enough to cover

production, which therefore demonstrates Starbucks’ hypocrisy of being a fair-trade

company. Its communications boast of being a fair-trade company and can be seen in a

number of platforms. For instance, on its corporate website, Starbucks claims to be

“committed to buying and serving the highest-quality, responsibly grown, ethically traded

coffee to help create a better future for farmers” (‘Being a Responsible Company’ N.D.). As

can be seen, Starbucks is a company that highly communicates its message of being an

ethical business, despite at times not appearing to practice in accordance with its message.

According to Marciniak (2010) there is a growing consumer demand for ecological

products which led many companies to jump on the ‘green wagon’ in order to gain an

advantage in the market. However there are companies that falsely respond to this

growing segment by claiming to be green, this can be referred as ‘greenwashing’. Precisely,

greenwashing can be defined as “a marketing instrument used mainly by large

corporations in order to give impression of ecological issues concern” (Marciniak,

2010:53). According to the author, there are six signs of greenwashing that companies use

in order to deploy a positive image to their customers, they are:

-Hidden trade-off (When a company claims that their package can be recycled

but it contains some hazardous elements)

-Fibbing (When a company lies that it is eco-friendly by placing a recognisable

eco-logo in its package when it has no authorisation to do it)

-Irrelevance (When a company claims to do something that is compulsory by

the law)

-No proof (When a company claims to be eco-friendly but has no proof to show

that their actions are really making a difference)

-Vagueness (When a company do not provide customers with full information)

-Lesser of two evil (When a company, for example, claims that their cigarettes

are organic, even though smoking is bad for people’s health)

Marciniak (2010:55) also points out that a frequently employed tactic in the field of

greenwashing is spending more money on advertising environmental credentials rather

than on actually acting in an environmentally responsible manner. For instance, according

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to Stoll (2002) Phillip Morris, a tobacco industry, launched a campaign named “People”.

The campaign was created to promote the philanthropic donations that Philip Morris had

donated to charities, however the price of the campaign far outweighed the donations

made to charities. Stoll (2002) argues that when an organisation spends substantially

more on publicising its praiseworthy behaviour, than on the praiseworthy behaviour itself,

it is rather unclear whether the actions are worthy of praise at all, he concludes that this

type of behaviour is unfairly misleading. Phillip Morris’s eagerness to communicate a

message of ethical behaviour outweighed the company’s actual ethical behaviour. This is

a clear instance of message outweighing practice. Such behaviour is consequently deemed

hypocritical according to Fassin and Buelens (2011).

2.2. Real/Natural Beauty Campaigns (RNBCs)

Advertising is a function of business that is pervasive in people’s life. It can be found

everywhere, such as “on television, radio, magazines, newspapers, handbills, posters,

billboards, direct mail and the Internet” (Cohan, 2001:324). People normally do not

believe that advertisements impact their lives, however the fact that advertising is so

ubiquitous in everyday life has led many to begin worrying about the content and

effectiveness of such messages. For instance, according to Schor (1998) people that tended

to watch television, spent an extra 2,080 dollars than they would per year compared to

people that did not watch television. Furthermore, society has been increasingly worried

about the messages that advertisements send to young girls and women, distorting their

perception of beauty and encouraging them to stop eating in order to look as thin as the

models in the adverts. There are many studies by social scientists trying to understand the

impact of exposure to advertisements, using idealised images of women, on female self-

esteem (Engeln-Maddox, 2005; Groesz, Levine and Murnen, 2002; Blechert, Nickert,

Caffier and Tuschen-Caffier, 2009). Richins (1991:81) researched the role of social

comparison and the impact of idealised images of advertising on female university

students. She concludes that “advertising generates social comparison” and that

“satisfaction was lower among subjects exposed to idealised advertising images”.

Furthermore, the subjects that were first introduced to the idealised images of women,

and then subsequently introduced with adverts using ‘average’ women, tended to rate

average women as less attractive than the subjects that were only shown images of

average women. Monro (2005) investigated the impact of media-portrayed idealised

images. Her research, like this research, also used female university students as subjects.

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The results of the study indicated that after the subjects viewed the advertisements of

idealised images they reported an increase in appearance anxiety. Striegel-Moore,

Silberstein, and Rodin (1986) have reported that the standardized body-image for women

has become increasingly slimmer and uniformly attractive. Finally, Richins (1991) notes

that certain commentators suggest that the ubiquitous use of slim, attractive models in

advertisements create such self-esteem issues that girls and young women develop

unhealthy eating habits or disorders. As can be seen, it is widely accepted by many authors

that the ideal images of advertisements is pervasive in women’s life and health. With so

much research and attention focused on the negative effects of unrealistic beauty

standards on young women, a new antithetical trend has developed which aims to

promote ‘real’ or ‘natural’ beauty. Campaigns which make use of this trend are the focus of

this study and will consequently be addressed in this section. The term RNBC will be used

as an abbreviation for ‘Real/Natural Beauty Campaign’, it will be used according to the

following definition: A marketing campaign which encourages female self-esteem through

celebrating female ‘real’ or ‘natural’ beauty. Although, much research has been carried out

on the impact of unrealistic beauty standards on women’s self-esteem, very little research

could be found on women’s perception toward RNBCs. The aim of this research is to

investigate whether young females are sceptical about ‘ethical’ campaigns that promote

the natural and real beauty of women or whether they believe these RNBCs have a genuine

interest to help improve women’s self-esteem.

2.2.1. Exemplar RNBCs

To combat this ideal image of women (tall and very thin), there have been an increasing

number of companies, in the cosmetic and fashion industry, promoting the real and natural

beauty of women. For instance, the Body Shop went against the standard industry practice

of using highly attractive models when it launched an advertising campaign which

featured a Barbie-style doll that had the proportions of a real woman in order to “highlight

the ways in which the industry as a whole engages in marketing practices that prey upon

women’s insecurities in a patriarchal youth obsessed society” (Stoll, 2006:127). See Figure

1 and 2 below. In addition, the luxury French cosmetic house Lancôme launched a 35

million dollars campaign which featured models with natural flaws and imperfections

(Cohan, 2001). According to Cohan (2001: 324), a spokesman of the brand stated that “this

[advertisement approach] offers women a much more human, approachable, intimate

interpretation of beauty”.

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Possibly the most notable and successful RNBC is that of Dove and its ‘Campaign for Real

Beauty’. The ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’ was first introduced in 2004 (Kurtzleben, 2013)

and encouraged women to reconsider the narrow perception of beauty with a campaign

which “featured ‘normal-looking’ women, with curves, wrinkles, freckles, and other

imperfections” (Austen-Smith and Galinsky, 2007:3). Moreover, Dove’s tongue-in-cheek

tagline for its firming product, designed to reduce cellulite, was “‘Let’s face it, firming the

thighs of a size two supermodel is no challenge. New Dove Firming: As tested on real

curves” (Austen-Smith and Galinsky, 2007:3.). Lastly, in 2006 Dove started the ‘Dove Self-

Esteem Fund’ to help every female feel positive about her appearance. Since then Dove has

aired a plethora of other Real Beauty advertisements. Most recently, Dove created an

advertisement in which four women, ostensibly members of the public, undergo a trial to

improve their appearance through a “RBX Patch”. At the end of the trial the women report

feeling more beautiful and confident, before it is revealed to them that the RBX patch is a

placebo (Knowmore, 2014). Certainly, with 10 years behind it, Dove’s ‘real beauty

campaign’ qualifies as an exemplar RNBC.

The high-end fashion retailer Selfridges recently jumped on the bandwagon when it

created a six week ‘Beauty Project’. According to an article in the Metro (Cossar, 2014) the

Figure 1 (Source: ‘Campaigns’ (N.D.))

1997 – Self-Esteem Campaign

Figure 2 (Source: The Advertising Archives (N.D.))

2000s UK – The Body Shop Magazine

Advert

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point of the project is to explore the modern concept of beauty. The article quotes make-

up artist Sali Hughes, who believes that women feel uncomfortable with their appearance

because there is only one version of beauty portrayed in the media, which is normally

associated with young, slim and tall Caucasian women under 35. According to Sali Hughes

the point of the beauty project is to show many diverse definitions of beauty (Cossar,

2014). Hughes believe that “when we have a wider range of ideals to look at, women will

feel better about how they look and not feel disappointed they don’t look like the lipstick

advert in their magazine” (Cossar, 2014). As part of the Beauty Project, Director Kathryn

Ferguson also called for “A Return to Natural”, in a short film which showed black men and

women talk about their hair (‘The Beauty Project, 2014a). Norbert Schoerner, the

photographer behind the portraits which were used throughout the beauty project, claims

that, due to the lack of retouching, the beauty project contained an “unusual level of

realism for a beauty campaign”(The Beauty Project, 2014b). As can be seen, Selfridges

were keen to explore the themes of real and natural beauty during their ‘Beauty Project’.

In 2010 Victoria Secret even launched a short lived RNBC named ‘Body for Everybody:

Love My Body Campaign’ (Portuguez, 2010). The campaign looked at first glance to be

another self-esteem boosting RNBC, despite the fact it featured typically attractive Victoria

Secret models claiming to love their body, because their website encouraged visitors to

share what they loved about their own body. However, ‘body’ was the name of a new range

of underwear and the ‘body’ which the models ultimately loved was the underwear.

Consequently, it may be hard to justify calling this campaign a true RNBC, although it

certainly seems that Victoria Secret intended it to be perceived in this way. Indeed, it may

be likely that Victoria Secret wanted to cash-in on some of the success of Dove’s RNBC.

Of the companies mentioned above (Body Shop, Lancôme, Dove, Victoria Secret, and

Selfridges), all manufacture and/or sell beauty enhancing products, whether they be

clothes or cosmetics. Consequently, the business of these companies does not sit

comfortably with the message of celebrating ‘real’ or ‘natural’ beauty. Needless to say,

potential hypocrisy is an issue which each company must avoid in order to appear

consistent.

2.2.2. Potential Hypocrisy in RNBCs

This section, in part, develops previous work done during the second semester submitted

for the course ‘Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility’. In that work it was

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argued that using a Kantian framework of deontology -a theory of ethics in which

behaviour that is performed from a duty to do what s ‘right’ is favoured- Unilever (the

parent corporation of Dove) could be accused of acting unethically on counts of hypocrisy.

With regard to message and practice the question can thus be asked; do these companies

practice in a way that conforms to the message they espouse? Or is this message merely a

ploy to exploit current ethical trends in an attempt to appeal to females who do not meet

the unrealistic body image which is otherwise ubiquitous?

With regard to their RNBC, The Body Shop released the statement: “we believe that true

beauty comes from confidence, vitality and inner wellbeing. We strive to use imagery

which doesn’t play on women’s insecurities and to bring you products that enhance your

natural beauty and express your unique personality” (‘Activate Self Esteem, N.D.). Despite

this message and their advertisements which feature their fictitious Barbie-style doll

named “Ruby” (See figure 1 and 2, above), Body Shop used many idealised and

stereotypically beautiful models before and after the introduction of their RNBC. In

addition many of the advertisements, before and after the RNBC, idealise attractive males,

seemingly ignoring the Body Shop’s own protestations against the objectification of

women (see Figure 3-6, on the following page). It is interesting to note that although Body

Shop was keen to feature its doll Ruby in many advertisements, the RNBC did not feature

any real women who fitted this body-type. Perhaps this is because Body Shop understands

that customers do not expect a brand of makeup to make them look like a doll in an

advertisement, yet customers may expect makeup to make them look like a real woman

which does not conform to the idealised standard of beauty. Indeed, it is because

customers want to look like the models in the advertisements that the Body Shop used,

and still uses, models which fit the narrow definition of beauty.

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Figure 3 (Source: The Advertising Archives (N.D.))

2000s UK – The Body Shop Magazine

Advert

Figure 4 (Wagner (2013))

The Body Shop Advert

Figure 5 (Source: The Advertising Archives (N.D.))

2008 UK – The Body Shop Magazine

Advert

Figure 6 (Source: The Advertising Archives (N.D.))

1990s UK – The Body Shop Magazine

Advert

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Much criticism of Dove’s real beauty campaign stems from the fact that Dove’s parent

company, Unilever, also owns the Axe/Lynx brand which has gained attention for its

extensive objectification of women (Bethel, 2013; Clinch, Osland and Dorso, 2011;

Harrison, 2008; Kurtzleben, 2013; Gordon, 2013). Besides this, however, some authors

have noticed inconsistency within the context of the real beauty campaign itself (Austen-

Smith and Galinsky, 2007; Dye, 2009).

Although Dove promotes ‘real beauty’ in advertisements which target women, the

advertisements of Lynx, which are directed toward men, contain “fantasy babes” who have

“long hair, small waists, and large breasts” (Dye, 2009:120). Harrison (2008:47) has

expressed concern with Unilever’s two-facedness, stating that the complicated nature of

‘the market’ is no excuse for hypocrisy, and “There is incredible inconsistency in a

corporation that happily promoted the sexualisation and objectification of women through

one brand, while arguing that it is the champion of women’s rights through another brand”.

An inconsistency within the Dove RNBC which has been noted by Austen-Smith and

Galinsky (2007:3) is that, despite its message of ‘real’ beauty, “Dove was still selling beauty

products. Beauty products, by definition, are sold because they touch on women’s

insecurities. Dove purportedly wanted to eliminate those insecurities through its

campaign”. Dye (2009) also highlights this paradox, although she notes further

inconsistencies within the ethos of the campaign regardless of the Lynx connection.

Amongst these is the fact that a campaign for ‘real beauty’ further encourages females to

consider beauty, real or otherwise, as a significant aspiration worthy of time, effort, and

money. It continues to endorse the practice of females altering their appearance in order

to boost self-esteem. Moreover, Dye (2009) uncovers a more subtle problem within the

conception of the campaign, namely “By encouraging images of ‘real women’, Dove implies

that women who do fit the ideal are not real women” (p120 emphasis added). Thus, despite

an attempt to broaden the definition of beauty, by stating that ‘Real women have real

curves’ Dove has excluded females who lack curves.

Like Dove’s Campaign for ‘Real Beauty’, Victoria Secret’s ‘Love my Body’ campaign appears

to encourage women to be happy in their own skin. Both campaigns show young women

in their underwear, however Dove campaign uses curvaceous women to promote the

campaign, while Victoria Secret’s ‘Love your Body’ campaign uses the stereotypical

idealised image of women (tall and skinny) to promote their campaign. It is important to

note that there is more than one body type and unlike Dove, Victoria Secrets’ Campaign

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uses only one body type even though their advertisement states that ‘there is a body for

everybody’. Barhydt (2012) points out that Victoria Secret’s Campaign is not much about

love your body, it’s more about buying a new line of Victoria Secret lingerie. The website

Women in advertising notes that “one can tell that ‘Love my Body’ may not have been the

correct name for the campaign” (‘Dove vs. Victoria’s Secret’, N.D.) as the advertisement

features only one body type. It certainly appears that the ’Love my Body’ campaign was

half-hearted at best, and little to no effort was channelled into avoiding hypocrisy.

The purpose behind the Selfridges beauty project is clearly that of redefining beauty to be

more inclusive by, according to Sali Hughes (Metro, 2004), providing “a wider range of

ideals to look at”. Moreover, each of the portraits central to the project is accompanied by

a quote, the portrait of one model, Monique, is accompanied by the quote “My definition of

beauty has a space for everyone." Yet, despite their call to redefine beauty as something

more inclusive, their catalogue still exclusively features models which conform to the

narrow and exclusive ‘ideal’ body image. In addition, throughout the Selfridges “return to

natural” advert made by Ferguson, black men and women talk about their ‘natural’ hair

(‘The Beauty Project, 2014a) despite the fact that they talk at length about their favourite

hair products and their frequent use of hair straighteners. They are perhaps speaking

against using extensions although that is not explicitly stated, and this is not a practice

common amongst black men. Lastly, in the photo portraits central to the project, the

models are not only wearing makeup, but also the pictures were subject to post-

production (‘The Beauty Project, 2014b). Again, the company seems eager to associate

itself with the notions of ‘natural’ and ‘real’ beauty, without it being entirely clear what

relation its business has to these terms.

It can be suggested that perhaps these companies are making use of what Dye (2009) calls

‘commodity fetishism’. “Commodity fetishism represents the illusory view that a material

object (that can be purchased) has the ability to provide meaning that have little or nothing

to do with the object itself” (2009:121). This idea that products come to embody meanings

and values created in part by advertisements and marketing campaigns, is summarised by

Comor (2008:77) who writes: “people prospectively value commodities not in terms of the

skills, sweat, and time employed in their creation but, instead, in terms of the socially

constructed meanings associated with them”. Interestingly enough, through clever public

repositioning of values carried out in RNBCs, fashion and cosmetics companies have

managed to imbue their products with values which stand in direct opposition to the

22

purpose for which the product was created, and for which it will ultimately be used by the

consumer. Incredibly, products which alter the appearance of women, and further fuel the

modern preoccupation with appearance, have come to embody the contrary values of real

and natural beauty.

2.3. Consumer Cynicism

Consumer Cynicism has existed for decades and can be found in many forms, such as

consumer boycotts, pressure groups, or simply in the form of a defensively motivated

consumer. This section will discuss the forms of consumer cynicism as outlined by Odou

and Pechpeyrou (2011), the growing trend of cynicism toward ethical campaigns in

general, and lastly it will consider documented consumer cynicism toward RNBCs.

According to Odou and Pechpeyrou (2011:1799) in order to realise how pervasive

cynicism is in our society, one must ask oneself the following statement: “Can you read the

newspaper, watch television and generally try to keep informed about what is going on in

the world without becoming cynical?” The authors go on to say that the due to the

seemingly constant disappointment and betrayal by the political and economic sectors,

people find it hard to trust any altruistic discourse.

The terms scepticism and cynicism are normally used as roughly synonymous, although

Mohr, Eroglu and Ellen (1998) have defined scepticism as mistrust in the validity of the

content of a message, and cynicism as additional mistrust of the motives behind the

message. Cynicism generally entails a degree of scepticism, and consequently it is more

fruitful to discuss consumer cynicism than to limit the scope of discussion to consumer

scepticism alone. Cynicism involving a great deal of scepticism is considered by authors

such as Pollay (1986) and Koslow (2000) to be a tool used to defend oneself against

persuasion and manipulation. Defensively motivated consumers are sceptical of attempts

at persuasion, particularly within the domains of politics and advertising. Being cynical in

these contexts may help consumers to avoid disappointment. For instance, Koslow (2000)

notes that consumers are sceptical of advertising not only because adverts are recently

thought to be misleading or manipulative, but also because adverts are seen to care more

about the viewers’ money than the viewers’ well-being.

Cynicism is a critical tool that can be helpful not only for situations related to consumers

being resistant to the techniques of marketing, but also in a sense that people become more

critical in every aspect of life, from a simple conversation to a friend to a political

23

statement. Odou and Pechpeyrou argue that cynicism helps people avoid manipulation

and gain control of their life, it “will help consumer to unveil the ‘hidden facet of

marketing’, to see the manipulation behind the persuasion attempt, to decipher the

consumption code imposed by the consumerist society” (Odou and Pechpeyrou,

2011:1800).

According to Odou and Pechpeyrou (2011) there are four types of consumer cynicism:

Defensive Cynicism, Offensive Cynicism, Subversive Cynicism and Ethical Cynicism. In

order to better understand consumer cynicism it is important to briefly outline these four

types of cynicism. Furthermore, this framework is used to facilitate the interpretation of

the results within the discussion section of this paper. The summary of these can be seen

in Figure 7.

Figure 7. Four types of cynicism (Source: Odou and Pechpeyrou, 2011:1801)

Defensive cynicism refers to resistance toward the manipulation attempts of marketing

practitioners. This may refer to distrust of sales people, resistance to telephone selling, or

doubt with regard to claims made during advertisements (Odou and Pechpeyrou, 2011).

The critical belief that people hold toward the techniques which marketing professionals

24

use to manipulate and persuade people to buy their products is known as ‘marketplace

metacognitions’. Wright (2002:677) describes marketplace metacognition as “people’s

beliefs about their own mental states and the mental states, strategies, and intention of

others as these pertain directly to the social domain of marketplace interactions”. Odou

and Pechpeyrou (2011:1800) note that marketplace metacognition enables consumers to

be aware, and to detect attempts at manipulation or persuasion and consequently being

able to defend oneself against them.

Offensive cynicism is defined as acting out of self-interest, not just marketers but also

consumers. The authors note that “the conception of the consumer as victim of a cynical

capitalist system, if not totally false, is incomplete” (Odou and Pechpeyrou, 2011:1802).

Furthermore, they argue that the consumers may exploit any perceived opportunities

within the marketplace in order to get ahead, this may include waiting for incentives such

as offers and free samples while resisting the temptation to spend further money. This

behaviour can be seen as playing the game, engaging in the market and aiming to benefit

wherever possible (Odou and Pechpeyrou, 2011).

While defensive cynicism involves high levels of mistrust and detachment from the

marketplace, offensive cynicism involves interacting with the marketplace in an

opportunistic and self-interested manner.

Odou and Pechpeyrou (2011:1804) describe subversive cynicism “as a provocative and

discursive practice”, it is not just blankly defensive but rather denounces the market

critically. Foucault (1997) considers this process of self-deconstruction, examination, and

evaluation within the context of one’s contemporary society as part of the ‘technology of

the self’. Foucault (1997:89) defines the ‘technology of the self’ as a “reflection on modes

of living, on choices of existence, on the way to regulate one’s behaviour, to attach oneself

to end and means”. If, within contemporary western society, the prevalent ideology is that

of consumerism, then this could account for the commodification of ethical trends such as

real/natural beauty. A subversive cynic in the present research can perceive the

inauthentic nature of this commodification, or ‘commodity fetishism’ (following Dye,

2009), and would be greatly sceptical and deconstructive of the motivation of RNBCs.

Ethical cynicism is defined as a “spiritual quest for a natural self”, a rejection of the

commercialised nature of consumerist society (Odou and Pechpeyrou 2011:1804),

something akin to Maslow’s ‘self-actualisation’.

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2.3.1. Consumer Cynicism toward CSR

Now that consumer cynicism has been briefly characterised following the paradigm

outlined in Odou and Pechpeyrou (2011), the focus will turn to whether consumers are

cynical toward ethical campaigns or whether they believe these campaigns are altruistic.

According to The Economist the public are less inclined than ever to believe the big

corporate claims to “get the world out of its current mess” (‘Faith in World Leaders: Busted

Trust’, 2012). And in light of all the CSR messages conveyed by corporations, yet all the

reports of irresponsible and immoral practice carried out by one-and-the-same

corporations, consumer scepticism and consumer cynicism with regards to corporate

social responsibility (CSR) is ever increasing (Skarmeas and Leonidou, 2013).

A recent trend in CSR was for an organisation to be perceived as ‘green’, or

‘environmentally friendly’. As mentioned above, this became a popular marketing trend

which was later dubbed ‘green-washing’. Green-washing is characterised as a

dissemination of disinformation by an organisation in a bid to appear environmentally

responsible without implementing such claims; “talking the talk without walking the walk”

(Vos, 2009:674), or in the terms of this paper; having a green message without having the

corresponding practice.

Many examples of mismatch between a ‘green’ message and actual practice are given by

Jahdi and Ackidilli (2009). For instance petroleum giant Shell stated ‘tackling climate

change and providing fuel for a growing population seem like an impossible problem, but

at Shell we try to think creatively’ (p107). However, Shell’s practice was ultimately kept a

secret and no figures for its renewable energy budget were released. In addition, car

manufacturers have overstated the environmental credentials. Indeed, Toyota was

eventually called up on its exaggerated green claims by the Advertising Standards

Authority (ASA). Lastly Jahdi and Ackidilli give the instance of EasyJet which, again, was

called out by the ASA after a customer complaint concerning the way EasyJet portrayed

itself as more environmentally friendly.

As the practices of green-washing corporations were found not to correlate with the

corporations’ message, consumers become cynical of apparent green claims “[making] the

task of communicating with, and more importantly convincing, an organisation’s

stakeholders vis-à-vis its CSR credential even more difficult” (Jahdi and Ackidilli

2009:103).

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What is interesting to note is that CSR activity is often active endeavour aimed at

increasing “corporate dominations” as opposed to simple ‘image management’ (Jahdi and

Ackidilli, 2009:111). If this behaviour is overlooked by consumers then they may easily

overlook the fact that RNBCs are not carried out for the benefit of their self-esteem, but

rather for the sake of ‘increasing corporate dominations’. The following section collects

several cynical opinions of RNBCs from critics, commentators and some examples from

consumers, which demonstrate that professionals and the public are not necessarily so

naïve.

2.3.2. Consumer Cynicism toward RNBCs

On the Business Insider website, Stampler (2013) notes that many viewers liked the ‘Real

Beauty Sketches’ campaign, in which a FBI agent draws one sketch of women based on

their own description of themselves, then another based on a stranger’s description of the

same women. However, she goes on to write that other viewers found many flaws in the

advertisement. For example, Stampler (2013) reports on a blogger, “jazzylittledrops” who

noted that the video was predominantly focused on white girls with blonde eyes and blue

hair, and of the 6:36 minutes of footage, people of colour feature for less than 10 seconds

of screen time. Stampler (2013) also provides a quote from a woman who commented on

Dove’s Facebook page that the new advert “is not empowering or comforting. It’s

patronizing [sic], insulting and belittling”. She finished by suggesting that the ultimate

purpose of the campaign was “to make more profits for your [Dove’s] soap”.

According to Lachover and Brandes (2009) some people in Dove’s website forum were

severally critical of Dove and its RNBC, claiming that it exploited popular ethical trends

amongst women with a view to increase sales and garner a name for itself amongst the

public by appearing to promote an atypical, although not entirely revolutionary, message

within the beauty industry. A significant part of the forum dealt outright with the fact that

Dove’s RNBCs are, ultimately, marketing campaigns. One of the participants stated that “if

you really think Dove is talking to you women who are flat-chested, freckled, chubby, and

old out of a genuine desire to improve your morale and self-confidence, you are very

wrong! Dove is doing it because they want to make more money this year!!” (Lachover and

Brandes, 2009:310).

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On the Fox News website, McKay (2010) reports on cynicism toward the Victoria Secret

‘love my body campaign’ quoting Nadja Koglin, a high-profile public relations expert who

said: “The word 'curves' is abused today and the consumer is starting to reject illusions,

and demands reality from brands. Most women are neither 5'11 nor thin, and I predict that

any brand that reflects a more "real" body type it will be rewarded by the consumer”

(McKay, 2010). Moreover, celebrity stylist Phillip Bloch concurs reflecting the mood of the

public he states “considering this is a company that is based on body and lingerie, you'd

think they'd have a bigger variety of body shapes […] where's the model with a little junk

in her trunk?” (McKay, 2010). The majority of cynicism toward Victoria Secret’s RNBC

seems to be directed at the fact that Victoria Secret did not even try, on even a superficial

level, to correlate the models within the adverts themselves with the purported message

of the campaign.

As mentioned above, much consumer cynicism regarding RNBCs has been directed toward

Dove, with some easy criticism targeted at Victoria Secret’s ‘love my body’ campaign. This

research will further document consumer cynicism with regard to RNBCs. However, it will

be in a controlled and investigative manner and will cover some RNBCs which have been

the subject of less discussion.

2.4. Summary

In summary, Fassin and Buelens’ (2011) means of detecting organisational hypocrisy or

sincerity, by comparing levels of communication with levels of implementation, was

adopted and expanded, to become the comparison of message and practice. By comparing

the message and practice of the companies Dove, Body Shop, Selfridges and Victoria Secret,

it was concluded these companies can be considered hypocritical and would consequently

be subject to consumer cynicism. Consumer cynicism was then better defined and ‘the four

types of consumer cynicism’ devised by Odou and Pechpeyrou (2011) was identified as a

theoretical framework in which to organise the data which will be collected during this

research. Lastly, examples of cynicism toward RNBCs have been documented. These

examples of cynicism will be compared to any cynicism detected during the present

research. Ultimately the research will discover if any cynicism, like that found amongst

critics and commentators, can be found in an experimental situation. At the time of writing,

no prior research detecting consumer cynicism toward RNBCs has been found to exist.

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3. Methodology

In order to establish the design and methods which will be employed during the research of this

paper, some preliminary steps must be taken. The design and methods must be informed by

research philosophy, which in turn should be informed by the research question under

investigation.

3.1. Research Question

The question providing the impetus for the research of this paper has not been explored in

experimental conditions before. Moreover, no theory is being tested per se, although the four types

of cynicism is used to aid in interpretation. Instead, the purpose of the research will be to provide

a controlled and unbiased insight into a topic which has not yet been explored in academic

research. The research question in its most clear and explicit form is as follows:

Are consumers cynical about the intent behind RNBCs of potentially hypocritical

organisations? If so what form does the cynicism take?

This research hopes to answer a very real question with real world implications. For example, if a

large number of consumers are sceptical of RNBCs then it may damage the reputation of the brands

employing RNBCs. If consumers are not cynical of RNBCs then it may be considered a very tenable

marketing strategy. This research, therefore, has a pragmatic impulse behind it, because it has

practical ramifications, as opposed to being overly theory-laden.

The data collected in order to answer this question will be beliefs and opinions. Consequently, this

research question could ultimately be answered in one of two ways: by using a large sample in

order to attempt to calculate the ratio of people who explicitly state that they are cynical, or at least

sceptical, of RNBCs to those who are not; or alternatively gather a corpus of consumer opinions

and beliefs from a considerably smaller sample. The first of these methods assumes that cynicism

has a simple, objective, and quantifiable ontological status. The latter on other hand treats these

psychological positions to be nuanced, subjective, and more abstract in nature. The dilemma of

which stance to take toward the ontological nature of cynicism is the topic of the following section.

3.2. Research Philosophy

The matter of how the question of this paper is to be answered will depend on the ontology of our

area of interest, this is a question of what type of existence the entities concerned in this study

have. Is the social world a domain of objective facts, or of subjective interpretations?

Objectivism in sociological studies is a methodological framework which concerns itself with

describing and quantifying the influence of social structures on the members of society. For

example, an objectivist could look at examples of management structures across companies and

29

measure the success or efficiency of those management structures against a constant scale

(Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009). This is an objectivist approach as it assumes that each

organisation is trying to achieve the same goal(s) by measuring efficiency and success as an

objective fact, as opposed to value judgements which can vary from organisation to organisation.

A subjectivist approach, on the other hand, would be more concerned with the meaning that people

attach to the management structure and how these people define success in the context of the

company. A subjectivist approach considers social reality to be a product of people subjective

opinions and beliefs, whereas objectivists see opinions and beliefs as a product of social realities

which exist prior to subjective experiences (Bryman & Bell, 2011). The interests of this paper are

the beliefs and opinions of consumers, and the meanings people ascribe to RNBCs. These are

considered as actual subjective realities throughout the research.

These two, somewhat broad, ontological positions accommodate various epistemological

positions; positions on what it is that constitutes possible and valid knowledge (Quinlan, 2011).

Two of the most prominent epistemological stand points in business research are positivism and

interpretivism.

Positivism maintains that the social world should be described in a manner parallel that of the

natural sciences (Collis & Hussey, 2003). Accordingly, the goal of sociological research is to achieve

“precise and well-founded” knowledge comparable to what we know of other objective sciences

(Giddens, 1989:21). This philosophy may be useful in certain areas however it does not sit

comfortably with the aims of this present research, as cynicism does not appear to be quantifiable

in the same way as natural phenomena. Finally, positivism fits very comfortably with an objectivist

ontology, which, as indicated above, does not fit the assumptions of this research.

Interpretivism is a position which “emphasizes that humans give meaning to social reality before

deciding how they are going to act” (Holborn, 1999:442). In other words, society is seen to be made

of people whose beliefs and values inform the way they behave. Consequently, interpretivism

stands in direct opposition to positivism. While positivism maintains that society shapes people

and their beliefs, interpretivism holds that people and their beliefs shape society. Moreover, an

interpretivist epistemology supposes that beliefs, such as cynicism, are complex and nuanced and

are not easily calculated in an objective manner. Indeed, Saunders et al. (2009) stress that

interpretivists often see positivists as reducing complex insights into law-like generalisations,

thereby overlooking many of the intricacies of people’s opinions and beliefs. The present research

clearly adheres to the epistemological position of interpretivism, that it is people’s beliefs and

opinions that influence their behaviour. So what type of method is implied by these philosophical

assumptions of subjectivism and interpretivism?

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3.3. Research Method

Two issues with regard to research method will now be addressed those issues are: whether a

deductive approach of theory testing, an inductive method of theory forming, or even an

explorative approach will be adopted; and whether a quantitative or qualitative method of data

collection will be implemented.

3.3.1. Induction, Deduction and Exploration

Inductive research consists of proposing generalisations by looking at specific cases: if a case holds

for one or many instance then it may hold for all cases (Gill and Johnson, 2002). The method of

deductive research, on the other hand, consists of testing generalisations by looking at specific

cases: if a specific case does not conform to the generalisation then the generalisation must be

incorrect. Deductive experimentation, therefore, is more likely to arrive at results that can be

stated with certainty -however only in cases where the hypothesis is disproved- this is called the

falsifiability theory (Popper, 1959). The most famous example is that of black swans. If all of the

swans we see are white, then we may hypothesise that “all swans are white”. This is an inductive

inference; by looking at specific cases, a generalisation is proposed. On the other hand, once this

generalisation or hypothesis has been proposed, finding a single black swan disproves this

generalisation and it must be reduced to “most swans are white”, or discarded. This is deductive

inference; testing a generalisation by looking at specific cases. It is worth noting that even before

black swans were known to exist, every white swan that was observed only strengthened the

probability of the hypothesis that “all swans are white”, but it could never prove the hypothesis.

Induction therefore is used to create a hypothesis, and deduction is used to test a hypothesis by

trying to refute it. If the hypothesis is tested, and is never refuted, then its likelihood increases.

However, this does not mean that it is proved, but only that it holds in an increasing number of

cases.

Deduction is most typically used in the natural sciences where generalisations are expected to hold

due to the nature of physical constants and causality (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009).

Induction, however, is typically used when an area has not been explored in great detail, or strict

generalisations are not as predictable. It allows preliminary hypotheses to be created in a less rigid

framework in which the researcher is permitted to suggest alternative explanations for the

observed data (Saunders et al., 2009). These two types of theory testing can be used in conjunction

although proponents of interpretivism will typically prefer inductive methods (Saunders et al.,

2009), while proponents of positivism prefer a deductive approach as it provides the possibility of

certainty by falsifying a hypothesis. There is another type of approach frequently adopted in

interpretivist studies however, that is: explorative research.

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An explorative approach is one in which a question is posed and the researcher must seek to find

elucidation in the area with no preconceptions about what the answer may be. Exploration is not

a means of inferring in the way that deduction and induction are. It is, as its name suggest, more

like travelling around new, uncharted areas of knowledge (Saunders et al., 2009). This paper will

be adopting an explorative approach as there have, as yet, been no generalisations formed with

regard to the research topic. Moreover, there is no indication to what the answer to the research

question will be, any guesses would be personal speculation and not theoretically founded. As

pointed out by Adams and Schvaneveldt (1991), the fact that explorative research is flexible does

not mean it is without direction, indeed there is a very specific research questions and the findings

will be interpreted within the theoretical framework of Odou and Pechpeyrou (2011) (see

discussion). However, the question is not framed in a theoretical background. And as such qualifies

as explorative (Saunders et al., 2009). Perhaps some hypothesis may be formulated from the

findings of this paper, and consequently tested in a deductive manner. But, it is as yet unclear

whether we should ever expect opinions and beliefs of individuals to be generalisable at all. As has

been mentioned above, cynicism and scepticism are nuanced and vary from person to person.

3.3.2. Qualitative and Quantitative Data

The two most prominent styles of data collection in the social and business sciences are arguably

the quantitative and qualitative approaches.

Firstly, quantitative research functions to measure quantifiable variables and as such either

implicitly or explicitly presupposes a positivist epistemology. Moreover, quantitative research is

frequently predictive and is therefore conducive to deductive theory testing. It has already been

made clear why these assumptions are not adopted in the present research and so no great effort

will be taken to further reject them. A point of criticism specific to quantitative data collection

methods however is that often complex issues are reduced into simplistic, vague or close-ended

multiple choice questions (Kavali, Tzokas & Saren 2001). Indeed, it is not rare to see issues reduced

to yes or no questions, or at best a 7-point Likert scale. This state of affairs lead Crane (1999) to

argue that there is an overdependence on positivistic reductionism in business ethics generally.

Crane (1999:245) proposes that liberation and “substantial epistemological potential” can be

found in the interpretivist approach of qualitative research.

Qualitative research, in its most general sense, aims to understand meanings. It emphasises words

rather than figures (Bryman & Bell 2011). The role of the researcher is to elicit the beliefs and

opinions of the participants in their own words, before interpreting the data to identify possible

themes for subsequent interpretation (Brand & Slater, 2003).

According to Helm (2004) qualitative methods such as interviews are appropriate for detecting

cynicism because cynicism is generally a conscious and deliberate attitude. The authors argue that,

32

although participants may utilise different terms, they will be able to communicate any scepticism

or cynicism they do have. They conclude: “thus, people are well qualified to report on their own

cynicism, and their understanding and naïve theories are an essential part of the construct” (Helm,

2004:346).

In summary, this research adopts the position that opinions and beliefs, specifically cynical ones,

are important social drivers which have a subjective ontology. They must be interpreted

qualitatively first and foremost. Any subsequent quantification must be carried out after meaning

has been fully attended to. Therefore a qualitative research design is used.

3.4. Research Design

Despite the advice of Holstein and Gubrium (1997) that, in active interviews at least, meaning can

justifiably be, in part, created by the interviewer as well as the respondent. It seems irresponsible

to do so in this case, as the interviewer will have read and written on the subject of ethics in the

beauty and fashion marketplace over the course of two or more years, as a consequence the

researcher will likely have reflected on the issues under question more than the respondents. The

aim of the research is to discover to what extent consumers are cynical of these RNBCs, any

reflections offered by the researcher could instil in the respondents a sense of cynicism that was

not present prior to the interview. It may not be possible to distinguish new cynicism, gained as a

product of the interview, with old cynicism, which is the subject of the study. Indeed, the present

research follows the advice of Gorden (1987) that the purpose of explorative interviews is to

facilitate flow of uncontaminated and reliable information from the participant while avoiding

bias.

When detecting cynicism in consumers, Helm (2004) was likewise concerned about leading

respondents, and thus influencing responses. Specifically Helm worried that if the interviewer

were to offer any views which may be considered cynical, then the respondent may adopt these

opinions in order to avoid seeming naïve. Helm thus made a conscious decision to avoid even

mentioning the word ‘cynical’, ‘sceptical’ or any of their derivations. Likewise, during these

interviews, a conscious effort will be used to avoid these words. A balance must be achieved,

whereby the interviewer provides opportunities for the respondents to voice any cynicism, while

not leading the respondents. For this reason a semi-structured interview was chosen as the means

of data collection.

The interview form adopted will be that of semi-structured interviews. Semi-structured interviews

are built around a general structure which consists of the main questions which need to be

answered. However, the details are worked out spontaneously and a great deal of freedom is

permitted to the respondent in not only how they reply, but also what and how much they say

(Drever, 1995). They are generally not suitable for a large sample but can be useful in small scale

33

studies like this one. Barriball and While (1994:334) suggest using semi-structured interviews

when the researcher wants to “explore respondents’ opinions, clarify interesting and relevant

issues, elicit complete information and explore sensitive topics within each interview,” while also

allowing “some freedom to probe”. All of which applies to the current research.

3.5. Participants and Materials

The participants consisted of 6 females aged between 20 and 25 years old. All participants were

University students: 1 undergraduate, and 5 postgraduates. The choice of participants was not only

based on convenience, but also appropriate as females are ostensibly the target of these

advertisements.

Materials used during the interviews consisted of pictures of four RNBCs, namely those of; Dove’s

Real beauty campaign, The Selfridges beauty project, The Body shop’s Ruby campaign, and Victoria

secrets’ Love my Body campaign. No video was shown to the participants due to time constraints,

this is regrettable as the Dove and Victoria secret campaigns were predominantly television

adverts. All materials used during the interviews can be found in appendix 1.

3.6. Ethical compliance

As Quinlan (20011:72) notes “when we undertake research, we are representing ourselves and

our institution or organisation in the wider community and must consequently adopt in our

research endeavour the highest ethical standards”. This research acknowledges the importance of

ethics in research for institutions, in this case University of Bristol, which it is representing.

Furthermore, this research acknowledges that it is vital to the well-being of the participants that

the researcher understands and practices the basic tenets of ethical research.

There are several authors and associations that provides guidelines for researchers on how to be

ethical throughout the project and when conducting research. For instance Diener and Crandall

(1978) identified four ethical principles that they believe it’s important to follow while conducting

research, the four principles discussed by the authors are concerned with whether there is any

harm to participants, whether there is informed consent, whether issues of invasion of privacy are

present and whether there is any deception of the participants.

With regard to the first of these principles, harm to the participants, it was necessary to be cautious

when discussing issues of self-esteem and the way in which women are portrayed in the media. In

order to ensure that the participants were comfortable with these questions they were informed

about the domain of the research -RNBCs- although mention of hypocrisy and scepticism was

omitted in order to avoid bias or contamination. This omission was not deemed potentially harmful

to the participants. All respondents consented to the interviews and to being recorded. They also

consented to being transcribed as anonymous respondents. Before the interviews the respondents

34

were informed that they were not obliged to answer any questions. Lastly, the respondents were

not intentionally deceived before, during, or after the interview.

This research was conducted according to the ethos of the Marketing Research Society, the

research was carried out “honestly, objectively, without unwelcome intrusion and without harm

to respondents. Its purpose is to collect and analyse information and not to create sales or to

influence the opinions of anyone participating” (‘MRS Guidelines for Qualitative Research’,

2011:4).

3.7. Questions

As mentioned the interview was semi-structured. The questions, which served as the interview

guide, can be found in appendix 2. In certain cases it was necessary to deviate from the order of

the questions, re-word questions, skip questions, or ask for elaboration. The rationale for the

questions was as follows:

To begin, respondents are shown RNBCs from four organisations; Dove, Body Shop, Selfridges and

Victoria Secret (found in appendix 1). This was done in order to prepare the respondents for the

interview. Questions 1-3 are designed to be introductory questions, establishing the respondents’

knowledge of the companies, their business, and the RNBCs. Questions 4-6 serve to find out the

general opinion of the participants toward the RNBCs. Questions 5 and 6 discover whether the

participants understand that there is a relationship between these campaigns. If participants

answer that they don’t see a common theme, they will need to be informed that for the purpose of

the research the adverts were classified as RNBCs. Questions 7-30 are designed to find out whether

consumers are cynical towards RNBCs. Questions 9-10 ask the participants what they like and

dislike about the RNBCs, thereby motivating the participants to think about the campaigns in a less

superficial, more critical manner.

Question 11-12 discover whether the participants have ever suspected that these RNBCs are a

means of boosting sales. It is worded in the past tense so that their response will focus on their

suspicions before the interview. This will limit the possibility of influencing their responses.

Questions 13-14 ask whether participants believe that RNBCs have an impact on women by

improving their self-esteem and their reasons for believing that. Questions 17-18 directly tests the

cynicism of the participants by asking whether the participants believe that the companies

presented are concerned with women’s self-esteem and their reasons for believing that. Questions

21-30 also directly test the cynicism of the participants. For instance, question 21 asks whether

the participants see anything wrong with RNBCs. Finally question 31 will establish what the

respondents believe the motives behind RNBCs are.

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3.8. Data Collection and Collation

Interviews took place between August and September 2014 at places that were convenient for the

participants. All interviews were recorded on two devices so that if one recording were to fail,

there would be another. The clearer of the two recordings was occasionally slowed down

anywhere between 0.5–2 times using audio-editing software to make transcribing them easier. The

interviews were transcribed with the help of a volunteer who has been credited in the

acknowledgements. The transcriptions can be found in appendix 3. The letter I is used to represent

the interviewer, while the letter R is used to represent the respondent.

3.9. Proposed Analysis

Despite the fact that this interview had a small sample size and relatively brief interviews of 20-30

minutes, the data gathered were by no means few or straightforward. The main purpose, then, of

the analysis will be to make the data manageable and understandable. In the words of Tesch (1990)

the data must be ‘condensed’ and ‘distilled’, these words indicate an active effort on the part of the

researcher. In order to condense, distil and subsequently interpret the large, complex data sets of

this research, a technique called coding will be implemented.

A code is a label which can be assigned to data of any size, from a word to a paragraph, to a whole

text. The codes then facilitates the grouping together of concepts into themes, and helping the

researcher notice potential patterns within the text (Basit, 2003). A code will often apply to several

subparts of a data set, and any given subpart may include more than one code (Bryman & Bell,

2011). As such, it is not a straightforward process and needs to be done gradually and iteratively.

In the early stages of coding, codes can be created, modified or dropped, as concepts become more

or less salient within the data. The researcher may create initial codes only to later find that a

concept was less significant than it first appeared, conversely the researcher may have missed a

concept which is later found to underlie much of the data (Saldaña, 2009). A frequently cited

distinction when coding data is between manifest and latent content (Aberbach, Chesney, and

Rockman 1975; Robson, 1993). Manifest content is that which has been explicitly stated by the

respondents, whereas latent content is implicit, or non-verbal (Elo and Kyngäs, 2007). The analysis

here does not make use of latent content. Lastly, any speech of the interviewer is not considered

data. Therefore, all codes that are identified will be found in the opinions of the respondents.

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Through the process of coding, the researcher may become aware of patterns, similarities, and

collocations (frequently co-occurring words) across the data sets. These will then be labelled, in

turn, and will be used to construct the themes of the analysis (Saldaña, 2009). Following Braun and

Clarke’s (2006) seminal guide to thematic analysis, the uncovering of themes will be done in six

phases.

Figure 8. Six phases of thematic analysis (Adapted from Braun and Clarke, 2006:87).

Moving through these phases is not linear, but rather is recursive (Braun and Clarke, 2006:86). The

researcher moves backward and forward through the stages when it is deemed necessary.

Due to time constraints, the interviews were transcribed by a volunteer, however to make sure

that the transcription were accurate, and in order to get more familiar with the data, the researcher

listened through all the recordings while reading the transcripts and once the researcher was

familiar with the data, the researcher re-read the transcripts in an active way, making notes and

highlighting relevant and interesting chunks of the data. This stage refers to the first stage

suggested by Braun and Clarke (2008); ‘Familiarising yourself with your data’.

The second phase followed. In this phase initial codes were identified once the researcher was

familiar with the data. This initial coding process was simply the most basic identification of codes

obtained through the raw data, and therefore the researcher was aware that a refinement would

be needed in later stages. The researcher worked “systematically through the entire data set, giving

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full and equal attention to each data item and identify[ed] interesting aspects in the data item that

may form the basis of repeated patterns (themes) across the data set” (Braun and Clarke, 2008:89).

The third phase adopted by this research involved the ‘searching for themes’. In this phase, the

researcher focused on the analysis of a broader level. This phase involved putting codes within the

relevant themes. Furthermore, visual representation are used in order to help organise the

different codes into themes (Braun and Clarke, 2008), a table and a mind-map were used in this

phase and can be found in the results section as figure 9 and 10. The advantage of creating a mind-

map is that it helps identify overarching themes, subthemes and relationships between them.

The fourth stage of thematic analysis involved ‘reviewing themes’. During this stage, some

candidate themes were collapsed into one theme while others were discarded because there was

not enough data to support them. In this stage the researcher had to re-read the entire data set for

two reasons: the first reason is to discover if the themes fit with the data set, secondly to code and

classify additional data which was missed initially (Braun and Clarke, 2008).

The fifth stage of thematic analysis involved ‘defining and naming themes’. This stage require the

researcher to refine the themes and describe them, these definition have been included in the

results section. Finally, the last stage of thematic analysis involved ‘producing the report’. The

report of the present research constitutes the results section and the findings and discussion

section.

Screen shots of the coding process can be found in appendix 4, identified themes with their

frequency of occurrence, and visual thematic schemata can be found in the results section as

figures 9 and 10, and interpretation of the results can be found in the findings and discussion

section.

3.10. Limitations

3.10.1. Data Collection

Sample size: The data of this study were gathered through interviews. This research was

conducted within a very limited period of time, roughly between the beginning of April and the

middle of September. Interviewing is a time consuming activity which does not simply depend on

the goodwill of the researcher. The researcher not only need to look for people willing to give up

some of their spare time, they also need to arrange the time and place suitable to meet the

interviewees, therefore the researcher needs to allocate to different places in order to meet the

respondents. All of these factors demonstrate that it takes time to obtain data and due to the time

constraints it was possible to conduct only 6 interviews.

Time limitations during the interview: In order to conduct the experiment, a selection of

advertising images were selected for each brand (appendix 1), in the case of Selfridges RNBC print

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screens from their corporate website were shown. These pictures were shown to elicit better

responses from the respondents in regards to questions surrounding the RNBCs. The benefits of

showing these advertising images printed on paper are that they are easy to understand and that

the respondents can always refer back to the images when they want to say something about them.

The downside is that there may have been better resources which could have been shown to the

respondents. For instance, Dove had two RNBC videos that may have elicited interesting responses

from the respondents: the RBX Patch advert and the Sketches adverts (both mentioned in the

literature review). However, these adverts are rather long. The RBX Patch would take 6 minutes

and 14 seconds to show and if this research were to show a video for every RNBC it would take an

inconvenient amount of time and there would be the risk that they would have forgotten about the

first advert by the end of the demonstrations. However, there is the possibility that these

respondents could have given much more detailed and opinionative responses. One last point to

consider, is that by allowing the respondents to look through the images throughout the interview,

it may not represent a real word scenario, as in the real world a person typically look at one advert

at any given time.

3.10.2. Analysis

This research makes use of a thematic analysis. Braun and Clarke (2008) state that one drawback

of thematic analysis is that it can be “potentially paralysing to the research trying to decide what

aspects of their data to focus on”. This potential problem is not encountered in this research,

specifically because the research question was well defined.

According to Guest, MacQueen and Namely (2012) thematic analysis has a tendency to miss

nuanced data. This criticism is one which had to be taken seriously during the analysis because, as

mentioned above, a qualitative means of data collection was used specifically because of its ability

to treat cynicism as a nuanced phenomenon. For this reason direct quotes are used to support the

thematic analysis, so as not to miss the subtleties of the respondents’ replies.

Lastly, thematic analysis can potentially have little to say beyond mere description unless it makes

use of a pre-existing theoretical framework in which to interpret the data (Braun and Clarke,

2008). It is for this reason that the types of consumer cynicism devised by Odou and Pechpeyrou

(2011) will be used to aid in construing the data. Finally the data is linked to the literature on

RNBCs so as to set it in a wider context.

3.11. Summary

In summary, the research is interpretive; it operates on the assumption that people’s beliefs and

opinions are the cause of social realities. It is explorative; it seeks to answer the question of

whether or not respondents are cynical of RNBCs. It uses qualitative data; it is interested in

nuanced data in the form of people opinions and beliefs. It acquires this data through semi-

39

structured interviews. This data is subjected to thematic analysis and is organised using the four

types of consumer cynicism (Odou and Pechpeyrou, 2011). Lastly the data is compared to the

literature review in order to put any identified cynicism of RNBCs in a broader context.

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4. Results

The results section will be relatively brief. It will include a description of the identified themes, the

categories into which they were grouped, and the patterns which hold between them such as

relationships, collocations etc. The main interpretation of this data will take place in the findings

and discussion section. The results section will simply describe the data objectively.

4.1. Themes

A brief explanation of the identified themes in alphabetical order is given below. These themes are

evidenced by some direct quotes:

Aspiration: Respondents had an aspirational view of supermodels. Society expects

people to aspire to be beautiful. For example, respondent 3 said “The best one, for me,

is Victoria Secret because I relate more to it, because every girl wants to become like

Victoria secret model. So probably my aspirational standard would be Victoria secret”.

In addition, respondent 1 said “Victoria secrets; every women wants to look like her

because it is the society nowadays.”

Brand loyalty: Respondents considered brand loyalty to arrive from liking the

product, more than they thought it came from liking the RNBCs. Respondent 4 believed

that “loyalty comes from actually using the brand not necessarily from advertising. I

think that advertising definitely makes you want to try it but I don’t know if it creates

loyalty. ” Respondent 5 also stated “If I see the advert maybe I wouldn’t say ‘I’m gonna

use this product’, I just like the way they do their campaigns.”

Boosting sales: Respondents often stated that they believed all advertising to be an

attempt to boost sales. As an example, respondent 2 said “Although, I still believe

they’re just trying to sell the products instead of helping women build their self-

esteem. But still that’s a good message to pass.”

Critical of Victoria Secret: Respondents frequently voiced criticism of Victoria Secret

and its marketing strategies. With regards to Victoria Secret’s use of skinny models,

respondent 3 said “To me also it allows the possibility for some to get upset and get

upset about their own bodies, and start not eating enough.”

Cynicism of RNBCs: The majority of respondents voiced cynicism of RNBCs on a

number of occasions. Respondent 3 firmly stated “I think that they are quite fake, all

of them. Because at the end of the day they are always trying to sell products, so some

of them they are trying to sell them say that a body with flaws is more beautiful than a

body without”

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Cynicism of Victoria Secret: All respondents voiced some form of cynicism toward

Victoria Secret. With respondent 6 suggesting, while discussing Victoria Secrets

attempts to appear as an RNBC, “they are just trying to win brownie points among the

audience”.

Diversity: Respondents stated that RNBCs focus on diversity and include everyone

within their definition of beauty. Respondent 6 noted that “I see it as they always talk

about bringing out the inner beauty in people. And they talk about accepting people of

different body types and skin colour and everything.”

Hypocrisy: Hypocrisy was picked up on several times. A very direct example is made

by respondent 6, who said of Dove “by selling a dove firming product they’re saying

that firm skin is better than non-firm skin. Then it falls flat when they have another ad

that implies that even spotted skin is as good as spotless skin. Because you are talking

about firm products, products to make your body firm. It’s a little hypocritical in my

opinion”.

Insincerity: Respondents at times found the messages of RNBCs to be insincere, at

least to some extent. Respondent 1 suggested that RNBCs just show “what people

would like to see on TV, or on the ads”. Respondent 4 concluded “So I don’t believe all

of this is just for a good purpose”.

Lack of cynicism: There were certain occasions in which respondents were not

cynical in areas which were found to be cynically assessed in the literature review. In

reply to asking whether the respondent believed the RNBCs were trying to send a

message, other than simply selling a product, respondent 2 said “Oh yeah, they

[RNBCs] are more than just selling their product, they’re trying to pass this kind of

concept too.”

Message vs Practice: Respondents noted that there were areas in which the message

and practice of companies did not coincide. On several occasions they were explicitly

denounced for being hypocritical. Respondent 6 noted body shops inconsistency

“Body shop says ‘there are 3 billion women who don’t look like supermodels and only

eight who do’. But they do sell makeup right? You know, so that’s the irony of it.” While

respondent 2 said of RNBCs “If you think I am beautiful enough why do things to

change me?”

Perfection(ism): Beauty was often treated as equivalent to physical ‘perfection’.

Respondents frequently listed physical perfections when referring to models,

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respondent 4 provides an example “People with perfect bodies, perfect skin, perfect

everything”. Respondent 5 shows how they equated beauty with perfection “they are

beautiful and they are perfect”.

Real: RNBCs were often said to reflect real women, in real life in a way which was

relatable. Respondent 4 said “they [RNBCs] show what real people look like”.

Respondent 3 suggested that the RNBC models “are people you see on your way to get

to the library at the university”.

Real(ity) vs Advertisements: Adverts, other than RNBCs, were often treated as being

too unrealistic. Respondent 4 liked RNBCs “Because, we’re not used to seeing real

people in adverts”. And respondent 5 said “you can see like makeup ads or whatever,

and even women that are so old they seem to have perfect skin and they don’t. Maybe

in reality you see them and they have terrible skin”.

Self-esteem: Respondents occasionally said that RNBCs improve their self-esteem.

Sometimes it was unclear whether this was because RNBCs describe everyone as

beautiful, or because they felt they were more physically attractive than the RNBC

models. Respondent 6 said “If people like me can be on an advertising campaign then

I don’t feel so bad about the way I am.”

Self-interest: The main impetus behind advertising was said to be self-interest:

improving sales, brand loyalty, or ethical image. Respondent 6 admitted “At the end of

the day they need to make a business. So they will always have their motives first

otherwise the purpose of their business is not met.” In addition, respondent 5 stated

that “what they want is to continue selling”.

Victoria Secret is different: Respondents frequently identified Victoria Secret as

being unlike the other RNBCs, and more like normal advertisements in their portrayal

of women. Respondent 1 thought that Victoria Secret opposed Dove “It’s basically the

same as Dove but the other way around. Like they mainly promote… the thing with

Victoria secret is that they mainly promote skinny girls.” While respondent 4 directly

stated that “the Victoria secret one is different from the others”.

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4.2. Categorisation and Frequency

Below there is a table illustrating how many times each theme occurred in the data.

Figure 9. Categorised themes with frequencies of occurrence.

Many themes which had initially been identified in the early stages of analysis were ultimately

omitted as they were not identified frequently enough to be considered useful in further analysis,

or were made redundant by the presence of similar themes. As an example, the theme ‘Positives of

RNBCs’ included the sub-theme ‘different’ meaning that respondents found RNBCs to be different

from other advertisements, however under the ‘Victoria Secret’ theme there is the sub-theme ‘VS

is different (to the RNBCs)’. Consequently, the two themes were conflated to one ‘VS is different’

as it captures this distinction in a general sense.

The reader may notice that Victoria Secret has been separated from other RNBCs. This is because

the respondents visibly rejected that it belonged with the others, which they all found to have a

common theme. This became such a salient issue during the analysis that it was decided that, to

include Victoria Secret with the other RNBCs, would disrupt the results significantly. Consequently,

Victoria secret was analysed as a separate category of themes. From now on the term ‘RNBCs’ will

no longer be used to include Victoria Secret.

Positives of RNBCs Cynicism & Scepticism Victoria Secret (VS) Reality Beauty Business

Diversity (16) Message vs Practice (14) Cynicism of VS (20) Real vs adverts (12) Perfection (15) Brand Loyalty (10)

Lack of cynicism (12) Cynicism of RNBCs (12) VS is different (7) Real (11) Aspiration (5) Self-interest (10)

Self-esteem (8) Insincerity (8) Critical of VS (5) Boosting sales (6)

Hypocrisy (7)

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4.3. Relations, Patterns, and Overlap

Figure 10. Visual schema of relationships, patterns and overlap of themes.

The diagram illustrates; relationships between themes, patterns of co-occurrence, and any

potential overlap which arose in the data. Central to the diagram in figure 10 is the label RNBCs as

it is important to show if and how the categories and themes are related to the discussion of RNBCs.

From the diagram it can be seen that the data suggested that Victoria Secret does not stand in a

direct relation to other RNBCs. They are most closely related only in the sense of contrasting: ‘VS

is different’. Mention of Victoria Secret frequently co-occurred with talk of aspiration and

perfection. Victoria Secret was heavily criticised for its overuse of supermodels and its lack of

diversity.

The data showed that respondents did not relate RNBCs to business directly, but rather they only

considered business indirectly through: ‘Boosting sales’. Specifically respondents were reluctant

to say that RNBCs produce ‘Brand Loyalty’, hence their isolation from one another in the diagram.

Respondents only mentioned inconsistencies in message vs practice if they were already

displaying signs of cynicism, or if they were talking about the companies behind the brands.

Another relation which arose was that cynicism arose on occasion, but was absent on others.

Lastly, the answers to questions for which cynicism was voiced were nearly always distinct from

45

the answers where it was not voiced. It is felt that the other relationships demonstrated by the

diagram are simple enough to be understood without further explanation.

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5. Findings and Discussion

The data has been collected and organised. Now it must be interpreted. This will be the objective

of the findings and discussion. The findings will determine the type of cynicism which has been

uncovered during the interview process. The discussion will compare this cynicism with the

literature to see if any of the respondents had similar opinions of RNBCs to those documented in

the literature review.

5.1. Findings

The graph below plots data, in the form of direct quotes, on the dimensions of cynicism as

described by Odou and Pechpeyrou (2011) which can be found as figure 7 in the literature review.

The numbers on the graph reflect the numbered quotes which can be found in appendix 5. This

graph does not include instances of cynicism directed toward Victoria Secret. Respondents were

so frequently cynical of Victoria Secret that it could affect the results too dramatically to include it

amongst the data. Deciding where to place the data on the graph was somewhat interpretive,

although it did follow some criteria.

Figure 11. Data plotted against the four types of consumer cynicism.

(Adapted from: Odou and Pechpeyrou, 2011)

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The criteria which would place the data in the “offensive cynicism” or “ethical cynicism” quarter

would be if the data reflected beliefs and opinions which matched those given by Odou and

Pechpeyrou (2011) in the original graph (figure 7). There were occasions where data may have

been able to be classified as offensive cynicism. As an example, respondent 1, after being asked if

the RNBCs had an effect on her self-esteem, said that she liked “The Dove one… I know… It sounds

mean… I know I’m not as big” (as the models). In this short quote, the respondent has ignored the

message of ‘real/natural’ beauty and has compared herself against the models using the old

definition of beauty which Dove is attempting to reject. It could be considered offensive cynicism

because she is using the advert to make herself feel better while rejecting the apparently ethical

message. Ultimately it was chosen not to consider these as examples of offensive cynicism as the

evidence for interpreting it this way was not sufficient. With regards to ethical cynicism, nothing

was found which could be placed in this area of the graph.

In order for the data to be situated in the “defensive cynicism” quarter the data had to reflect a

distrust and intense scepticism like that described in the original graph of Odou and Pechpeyrou.

For example, if the data indicated that the respondent was cynical of the RNBC simply because they

are suspicious of large corporations or advertising in general, the data would be plotted as merely

“defensive cynicism”. For example, number 12 on the graph represents respondent 2 claiming “I

still believe they’re just trying to sell the products instead of helping women build their self-

esteem”.

In order for the data to be situated in the “subversive cynicism” quarter, the data had to show that

the respondent critically engaged with the RNBCs in a cynical way, as opposed to simply being

suspicious on defensive grounds. As such, if a respondent used the message of the RNBC to show

that the RNBC itself was inconsistent then this would be counted as subversive cynicism. For

example, number 25 on the graph shows that respondent 6 used Dove’s own message to reveal

inconsistencies in the advert “About Dove, I feel they’re talking about real curves. If they put

firming cream they’re not going to be real anymore. It’s going to be altered in some way”. The exact

placing of the data on the continuum however, was largely a subjective decision which relayed on

reading the data closely.

As can be seen in figure11 all the examples of cynicism recorded are classified under the ‘resisting’

forms of cynicism, respondents resisted potential marketing tactics. No data showed adequate

reason to believe that respondents attempted to cynically ‘master’ or control the situation of

RNBCs in order to benefit. Respondents did not say that they agree with the hypocritical behaviour

of the companies, nor did they say that they would employ similar tactics if they were in the

position of the companies. All of which would have been considered potential evidence of offensive

cynicism.

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5.2. Discussion

As mentioned in the literature review, the Fassin and Buelens (2011) argued that by calculating a

given organisation’s implementation in relation to its communication, one can place the

organisation on a sincerity-hypocrisy continuum, which in this dissertation was defined in terms

of message versus practice so as to encompass instantiations of hypocrisy which the

implementation-communication dichotomy failed to account for. The data set from this study

suggests that the some respondents are cynical towards organisations and the advertising industry

in general while other respondents are more precisely cynical about the messages that some

organisations use, these forms of cynicism represents defensive and subversive cynicism

respectively. These findings suggest that the respondents used in this study are placing RNBC’s

toward the hypocritical end of Fassin and Buelens (2011) continuum. These findings would have

been even stronger if Victoria Secret ‘Love My Body’ campaign was treated as an RNBC, however

because the respondents often suggested that Victoria Secret Campaign is different from the other

RNBC’s, Victoria Secret Campaign was left out to avoid misrepresentation of the respondents’

opinions. Evidenced by direct quotes such as that of Respondent 4, “the Victoria secret one is the

one that I see is different from all the others”.

5.2.1. Defensive Cynicism

It was suggested in the literature review that RNBCs make use of commodity fetishism, the

commodification of abstract values, in order to boost sales. Respondents occasionally voiced

cynicism about RNBCs with regards to this. For example respondent 1 said “In a way they are more

worried about selling their stuff so they want to promote a good image”. Respondent 3 also

supported this idea by saying “At the end of the day, what they are trying to do is targeting the

people that they want to sell the product to and try to achieve their own interest”.

Odou and Pechpeyrou (2011:1799) notes that the “disappointment with unfulfilled promises in

the politic or economic realm entails a massive distrust of any altruistic discourses”. Many

respondents expressed feeling of distrust toward organizations and advertising discourse, for

instance respondent 4 stated “It’s just advertising. I don’t have any, I wouldn’t say I have any

emotional connection to what they’re putting out but maybe it’s because I can see the difference in

what they’re doing”. Respondent 5 supports the feeling of distrust toward organisations by saying

“Big companies as Unilever, or proctor, just go with the flow. I don’t believe or all their purposes

to be green”. Being cynical in these contexts may help consumers to avoid disappointment.

Furthermore, Koslow (2000:265) states that “consumers are sceptical of advertising not simply

because advertisers sometimes lie or because their argument lack credibility in the marketplace

but also because scepticism helps individuals resist or cope with an advertising system that is

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frequently perceived as trying to sell them rather than to inform them”. This defensive cynicism

was found quite frequently in the data.

An example of defensive cynicism found in the literature was offered by Stampler (2013) who

provides a quote from a woman who commented on Dove’s Facebook page that the Dove’s ultimate

purpose of the campaign was “to make more profits for your [Dove’s] soap”. This argument is

supported by many respondents in this study. Respondent 6 said “At the end of the day they have

a business to take care of and a product to sell. So they are not all genuine. I think the point when

you have a business, unless you are a non-profit organisation, any business will not be genuinely

interested completely in the customers’ needs”. Respondent 2 said “I still believe they’re just trying

to sell the products instead of helping women build their self-esteem”.

As mentioned in the Literature review, Lachover and Brandes (2009) report that people were

severally critical of Dove, claiming that it exploited popular ethical trends amongst women. Part

of the forum dealt outright with the fact that Dove’s RNBCs are advertisements designed to make

money. One of the participants argued “if you really think Dove is talking to you women who are

flat-chested, freckled, chubby, and old out of a genuine desire to improve your morale and self-

confidence, you are very wrong! Dove is doing it because they want to make more money this

year!!” (Lachover and Brandes, 2009:310). This view was supported by all respondents as they all

believed that RNBCs primary motive is boost sales. Supporting evidence can be found in the quote

from respondent 3 who said “I think that they are quite fake, all of them. Because at the end of the

day they are always trying to sell products, so some of them they are trying to sell them say that a

body with flaws is more beautiful than a body without. But at the end of the day, what they are

trying to do is targeting the people that they want to sell the product to and try to achieve their

own interest”.

5.2.2. Subversive Cynicism

In the Literature Review it was mentioned that the Body Shop featured a fictitious Barbie-style doll

in their campaign, but this time much more curvaceous than the typical Barbie-doll that represents

the stereotypical standard of women. However, according to the literature The Body Shop is

hypocritical not only because they still continued to use stereotypical images of women and men

after their advertisements but also because it sells cosmetics such as make-up which is purchased

in order to enhance the beauty of the buyer. Authors such as Austen-Smith (2007) and Dye (2009)

have also noticed inconsistencies of the RNBCs themselves. Austen-Smith (2007) noted an

inconsistency within the Dove RNBC; despite Dove’s message of real beauty they still played on

women’s insecurities in order to sell beauty products. In agreement with Austen-Smith,

Respondent 6 asked Body shop “Why do you sell makeup and you don’t just sell normal everyday

makeup? They also sell glamorous makeup. So, if they go with that message really then they

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shouldn’t be selling that kind of makeup” and when asked about what the respondent thought

about Dove RNBC she said: “About Dove, I feel they’re talking about real curves. If they put firming

cream they’re not going to be real anymore. It’s going to be altered in some way”. Respondent 1

also made a cynical point by saying ““Yeah, they put in their ad real and natural beauty but they

are trying to sell stuff that makes your hair shinier and your body… the soap makes your skin look

softer. They are trying to make yourself look prettier […] I don’t know if it makes sense because

they say ‘natural beauty’”. These arguments were classified as subversive cynicism because of their

tendency find inconsistencies from within the RNBC discourse.

Dye (2009:120) stated that “by encouraging images of ‘real women’, Dove implies that women that

do fit the ideal are not real women”, respondent 1 made a similar point saying that: “But also at the

same time they are excluding, like, girls who are, like, skinnier”. Again, this is evidence that

arguments documented throughout the literature review can be found, not just in critics and

commentators, but also amongst consumers.

5.2.3. Comments on Victoria Secret campaign

Victoria secret’s campaign was analysed separately because the respondents rejected it as

conforming to the criteria of a RNBC. Barhydt (2012) points out that Victoria Secret’s Campaign is

not much about love your body, it’s more about buying a new line of Victoria Secret lingerie. The

website Women in advertising notes that “one can tell that ‘Love my Body’ may not have been the

correct name for the campaign” (‘Dove vs. Victoria’s Secret’, N.D.) as the advertisement features

only one body type. This is consistent with the respondents’ opinions of the Victoria Secret

campaign. For instance, when respondent 3 was told that the campaigns shown during the

interviews were classified as RNBCs, the respondent pointed toward the Victoria Secret campaign

and said “Is it? Because, this one doesn’t look particularly natural […] it’s not exactly for

everybody”. Moreover, Respondent 4 said that “Victoria secret one is the one that I see is different

from all the others”. These findings support the literature which suggests that women are cynical

about Victoria Secret adverts when associated with the RNBCs.

51

6. Conclusion

To conclude some of the implications of this research will be suggested, before a closing

summary of the work is given. Firstly, beyond writing critically and at length about RNBCs

and the potential hypocrisy they face, this work carried out first hand research which

detected consumer cynicism in respondents. The detected cynicism, at times, closely

mirrored opinions given by commentators, critics and consumer activists. Perhaps, this is

indicative of a less naïve consumer, as predicted by Odou and Pechpeyrou (2011).

Certainly, the respondents made frequent use of defensive cynicism and felt that they

resisted attempts at persuasion by RNBCs. Certainly this research may cause companies

who undertake RNBCs to reflect on any potential cynicism which could potentially arise

before going ahead. Undoubtedly the research question received an answer and perhaps

future research could expand knowledge in this area.

Future research could assess a larger sample size, ideally several focus groups, in which

more time could be taken and televisual advertisements could be shown. This would

overcome most of the problems of validity and reliability outlined in the limitations section

of the methodology. Moreover, a prediction could be posited, namely that respondents will

demonstrate frequent use of defensive cynicism, and occasional use of subversive

cynicism. Perhaps, these generalisations even hold across people’s opinions of other

companies which undertake hypocritical corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaigns.

Finally, during this paper the following were achieved: hypocrisy was defined as a gap

between message and practice; the term RNBC was defined and examples documented;

hypocrisy was identified within four RNBCs (Dove, Body Shop, Selfridges and Victoria

Secret -which was later dropped); types of consumer cynicism were identified and

adopted as a framework; prior instances of cynicism toward RNBCs were summarised.

Next: the method and research approach were described and assessed; the means of

analysis were given; the results were demonstrated, and were consequently interpreted

within a theoretical framework of consumer cynicism; the results were evaluated in

relation to the literature. Lastly, the conclusion featured some implications of the study

and future research was suggested.

52

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57

Appendices

Appendix 1: RNBCs of Dove, Body Shop, Selfridges and Victoria Secret

Dove

58

Body Shop

59

Selfridges

60

61

Victoria Secret

62

Appendix 2: Interview Questions

Interview Questions

Show RNBC’s adverts to the participants before questioning them (Dove for Real Beauty

Campaign, Victoria Secret ‘Love my Body’, Body Shop Barbie Campaign and Selfridges Beauty

Project)

1) Have you seen any of these campaigns before? (Dove, Victoria Secret, Body Shop and

Selfridges)

2) Which of these companies in the adverts are familiar to you?

3) In your own words how would you describe the business of these companies?

Dove

Victoria Secret

Body Shop

Selfridges

4) What is your opinion on each of these adverts?

Dove

Victoria Secret

Body Shop

Selfridges

5) Would you say that these adverts have a common theme?

If respondents say that they don’t see a common theme, it is important to say the

following:

“For the purpose of this research, these campaigns have been classified as Real and

Natural Beauty Campaigns

6) How would you describe the common theme of these campaigns?

Just ask this question if the respondent say that they see a common theme in the previous

question, otherwise ask question 7

7) Would you say that these adverts have a message beyond selling a product?

In other words, do participants believe these campaigns are simply trying to sell their

products or are these adverts also concerned about sending an important message to

their consumers through their adverts?

63

8) Why do you think/don’t you think these adverts have a message beyond selling a

product?

9) What do you like about adverts that promote the real and natural beauty of women?

10) What don’t you like about adverts that promote the real and natural beauty of women?

11) Have you ever suspected that these companies are promoting an ethical message in order

to boost sales?

12) What are your reasons?

13) Do you believe these adverts help improve women’s self-esteem?

14) Why do you think/don’t think these adverts improve women’s self-esteem?

15) Does it have an influence on you?

16) Could you describe the reasons that these adverts have/don’t have an impact on you?

17) How genuinely concerned with the self-esteem of women do you believe these companies

are?

18) What are your reasons?

19) Would say that the emotional messages of these adverts would make women become

more loyal to them?

20) Why do you believe/don’t believe that these adverts make women become more loyal to

them?

21) In your opinion, is there anything wrong with these campaigns?

Dove

Victoria Secret

Body Shop

Selfridges

64

22) How would you describe what you believe is wrong with these campaigns?

23) Would you say these adverts are sincere when they claim to care about women’s self-

esteem?

24) Why would you say that they are/aren’t sincere?

25) Is there a particular advert shown here that you believe is particularly sincere?

26) Why would you say it’s sincere?

27) Is there a particular advert here that you believe that is particularly not sincere?

28) Why would you say it is not sincere?

29) You have previously defined the type of business of these companies. Would you say that

their campaigns match the type of business that these companies are in?

30) What are your reasons?

31) What is your opinion about the motives behind these campaigns?

65

Appendix 3: Transcriptions

Transcript 1

I: Have you seen any of these campaigns before? Like the Dove, Victoria secret, body shop and

Selfridges?

R: Yeah

I: All of them?

R: Yeah. Not the body shop.

I: Not the body shop?

R: I know the brand.

I: Which of the companies in the adverts are familiar to you? Dove, again, Victoria secret body

shop and Selfridges.

R: I think all of them

I: All of them?

R: Yeah

I: Could you describe the business of Dove? What do they do?

R: Dove is mainly like about, like, selling, like, like, soaps, soap and conditioner, like, but like

mainly like soap to make your, like…

I: Ok

R: Yeah

I: Yeah I see. And the Victoria secret?

R: Yeah the Victoria secret is like to make yourself feel sexier. Like to, like they sell bras and

underwear. They also sell clothing. But it is mainly about bras.

I: Ok and the body shop?

R: The body shop is like lotions [both laugh], perfumes…

I: Ok and Selfridges?

R: It’s a clothing line isn’t it?

I: Yeah. What’s your opinion on the dove adverts that I showed to you?

66

R: The dove advert?

I: This one. The dove advert is this one. This one. Do you think it is good…bad?

R: I think it is good because they don’t… They show normal, not normal but like average, like

normal, like average persons. You know? But also at the same time they are excluding, like, girls

who are, like, skinnier.

I: Ok, that’s interesting. Yeah, and the Victoria secret one… what do you think about that?

R: It’s basically the same as Dove but the other way around. Like they mainly promote… the thing

with Victoria secret is that they mainly promote skinny girls. They like… Like all their fashion

week and their fashion show, and all their adverts, there is not a plus size model in there. There is

only skinny girls… like skinny models… skinny tall models.

I: Yeah, I see. What about the body shop? What is your opinion about this? Do you like it? Do you

think it is good… bad?

R: I think… I don’t get it.

I: You don’t get it?

R: No

I: It’s ok. And the Selfridges one?

R: I think that one is interesting because it shows it doesn’t matter what skin colour or a body full

of… and like different hair colour, an illness or anything like that. It doesn’t matter because you’re

beautiful like whatever way. I think I like that one.

I: I’ll go to the next question then. Would you say that these adverts have a common theme?

R: I think… Victoria secret and… I think like they have… kind of. I mean if you compare the

Victoria secret to the Dove one, it’s kind of the same. But with different models. Different type of

people. Does that make sense?

I: Yeah, I see. So would you say they have a common theme?

R: Yeah, Yeah.

I: So how would you describe this theme?

R: Victoria secret, with dove for example. Actually all of them try to describe beauty. Body shop

for example they… from what I understood a little bit… they try to…

I: Ok, I see. You said that… yeah. For the purpose of this dissertation I described it as real/natural

beauty campaigns, so that’s basically like you said. How would you describe the common theme

67

of these campaigns? No, sorry, you just said it. Would you say that these adverts have a message

beyond selling a product?

R: Sorry? Can you repeat the…

I: Like, in other words: Do participants believe these campaigns are simply trying to sell their

products? Or are these adverts also concerned about sending an important message to the

consumers?

R: I think Selfridges, they are sending a nice message to everyone. By saying, no matter what you

look like you are still beautiful. But of course they are trying to sell their… I don’t think actually

they are trying too much to sell their stuff because I think they are mainly about how you look.

Not, like, how you look in a bad way, but Victoria secret is mainly about their stuff.

I: So you think Victoria secret; they don’t have a message. Ok, I see. But the others? You would say

they care more?

R: Yeah

I: What do you like about adverts that promote the beauty of women? The real beauty of women.

R: What do I like about the adverts?

I: About the adverts that promote normal looking women, average women.

R: I like Dove that promotes normal women. I like that the clients… the viewers don’t feel

pressured into becoming skinny like the image, skinny girl. Like, with a perfect image and

everything… like they do with Victoria secret. I love Victoria Secret but it doesn’t send a good

image. I don’t think so.

I: Yeah I see. That’s good yeah. So what don’t you like about adverts that promote the real and

natural beauty of women?

R: It’s mainly about the peer pressure… like the society is already hard on you. Those adverts

promote… have lots of Photoshop on them as well. They also promote… bad things for…

I: Yeah, I get it yeah. Have you ever suspected that these companies promote an ethical message

in order to boost their sales? Promoting these messages just to increase their sales

R: I mean yeah. All of them of course. Of course, they are trying to do that. It doesn’t matter if it’s a

skinny girl in the picture or if it’s like plus size model. They are all trying to promote their image

but some promote in a nicer way than the others.

I: Do you believe that these adverts help improve women’s self-esteem? And why do you think

that?

68

R: It depends, like. I mean like, I think it motivates women. I mean like, some, women who are of

course overweight. They motivate women to become like, I don’t want to say it because it sounds

bad, but motivate women to lose weight of course. But like… Victoria secrets; every women

wants to look like her because it is the society nowadays.

I: And these ones that promote normal looking women?

R: Yeah?

I: What do you think about them? Would you say that they improve their self-esteem?

R: Yeah, they improve their self-esteem as well because they are basically saying that it doesn’t

matter you weight, your size… you’re still.

I: I understand. Does it have an influence on you?

R: I mean, like of course, a little bit.

I: Does it improve your self-esteem?

R: Well, when I watch the Victoria secret fashion show, it doesn’t. But you’re talking about the

advert of course. But, it makes me want to be like them so it doesn’t really help my self-esteem.

I: What about the others; the Selfridges, the Body shop…?

R: It makes me feel good because… Yeah makes me feel good.

I: Why? You can say.

R: Because, for example. The Dove one… I know… It sounds mean… I know I’m not as big.

I: It’s ok. You can say. Ok I see. Don’t worry this is anonymous. So, how genuinely concerned with

the self-esteem of women do you believe these companies are?

R: How…?

I: Do you think they are really concerned? Like really concerned with the self-esteem of women?

And why are the reasons?

R: I think… I mean in a way they are concerned but in a way they are more worried about selling

their stuff so they want to promote a good image. So they can [indistinguishable] a good image.

The people will like it. Like for example, Dove, they didn’t put skinny… I don’t like to say skinny…

but, skinny girls there. You know, they put plus size models. So that made the buyers like it. By

promoting a good image they make the buyers like it… yeah.

I: So you do you think they are genuine or not when they are sending these messages?

R: I don’t think so.

69

I: No?

R: To be honest; no.

I: Would you say that the emotional message of these adverts…

R: I was going to say: I don’t know if they are genuine or not…

I: You are more inclined to believe that they are or they aren’t?

R: I’m kind of in between. But, more… it’s hard to say because I don’t know their factory

personally, the people who work there, or the director, or anything like that. I think they think

through it, they think what people would like to see on TV, or on the ads. So they can…

I: Ok, so in conclusion you’re saying that maybe some people care but…

R: Yeah but they also care about selling their stuff as well.

I: Ok so they are not completely genuine?

R: Yeah they are not completely genuine but they are not completely fake, you know?

I: I see. What are your… Would you say that the emotional message of these adverts make women

more loyal to these companies? Like, these real beauty messages.

R: I think so. Because the woman is going to, the person or the girl, is going to be more attached

to the company. And it’s going to emotionally… like you said emotionally…

I: I see. In your opinion is there anything wrong with these campaigns? Is there something wrong

with Dove, Victoria Secret, body shop and Selfridges?

R: With Selfridges I don’t think so.

I: What about the rest?

R: With Body shop I don’t really get it…

I: understand it.

R: Yeah, I don’t understand.

I: And with Victoria secret?

R: Victoria secret I think they could show a bit more like plus size model… Not plus… It doesn’t

even need to be a plus size model but at least someone that is not that skinny. Because there a

literally people showing their bones in some of them… they Photoshop that out of course. And

dove, I think it’s all right I guess. Just Victoria Secret.

I: Victoria secret you think is wrong?

70

R: … No it’s not that. I don’t want to say something bad about it.

I: You can tell…

R: Yeah it’s just sometimes I don’t think that they promote a good image.

I: They don’t promote a good image because of…?

R: Because, it’s just the models… everyone agrees with that. It’s the models. Because if you go on

the internet everyone is saying that if you watch something… I’m here and I’m watching Victoria

secret fashion show and I’m eating pizza all depressed. If you go on the internet they’re always

putting that.

I: Ok so you think that it’s wrong because they are too skinny? Yeah, that’s what you’re saying?

R: Yeah. But I don’t want to talk bad.

I: How would you describe… Oh… no, you just said it. Would you say these adverts are sincere

when they claim to care about women’s self-esteem?

R: You asked that already.

I: Yeah that’s true. Is there a particular advert that you would say is sincere? You said that.

R: Sorry can you…

I: Is there any of these adverts… which adverts… Just say which adverts you think are sincere.

The name of the company

R: I think all of them are trying to sell something out of it but I think if I had to say the most

sincere one, it would be the Selfridges one.

I: Selfridges yeah, and then?

R: Oh and… Well I can’t really say that much about body shop because I don’t really get it.

I: You can take it out then

R: I don’t know about dove though, because dove might want to get girls to like it because they

didn’t put any model like a mainstream model, you know like…

I: Yeah, so you’d say it’s sincere or not?

R: It’s kind of in a way… and Victoria secrets, I don’t think they are lying. What do you mean by

sincere…

I: Sincere that they care about the self-esteem of girls.

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R: Oh yeah, they do want girls to feel a little sexier. But if it’s really chubby girls… not chubby but

their breasts are big. They don’t have the bra size for them.

I: Victoria secret?

R: Yeah

I: In the campaign they were saying: Body for everyone. Love my body. Because they have seven

styles of new bras.

R: Oh ok, so they came off new bras.

I: But they are still using the same models.

R: Yeah they are still using the models. Like the old models. Adrianna Lima, the most popular

models.

I: So you think Selfridges is particularly the one that is sincere?

R: I don’t see in the ad how they are trying to sell something. In Selfridges, I just see how they are

calling them beautiful. Everyone is beautiful, I don’t…

I: Yeah, that’s true this campaign is basically on the internet. So, you have previously defined the

kind of business of these companies, would you say that the campaigns match the kind of

business that these companies are in? You said, for example, Dove sells soap, Victoria secret bras

and so on. Selfridges clothes. Would you say that these real/natural beauty campaigns fit the kind

of business of these companies are in? Makes sense? Does it make sense for Dove to have real and

natural beauty campaigns or not?

R: Yeah, they put in their ad real and natural beauty but they are trying to sell stuff that makes

your hair shinier and your body… the soap makes your skin look softer. They are trying to make

yourself look prettier… not prettier but like… I don’t know if they are trying to sell… I don’t know

if it makes sense because they say “natural beauty”…

I: What about the other ones?

R: Victoria secret, in their ad they are saying… when they say…

I: “Love my body. Body for everybody”

R: Oh yeah, I think. What was the question?

I: Would you say that these real/natural beauty campaigns fit Victoria…

R: Victoria “Love my body”. I think yes with Victoria. Because it is supposed to be self… the model

has self-esteem with their body. They like their body, so they are basically saying like I want to

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look like their bodies… I don’t know. That doesn’t make sense. I know what to say but I don’t

know how to express.

I: So, in conclusion, what do you think is the motives behind these campaigns? What the motives

are for doing these campaigns.

R: I think in a way they want to sell they want the person to feel good about themselves, but also

they want to sell their stuff. But, if I have to conclude all, of course, I would say they are worrying

more about selling their stuff than caring about other people.

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Transcript 2

I: Have you seen any of these campaigns before?

R: I don’t think so, no.

I: Which of these brands… companies are familiar to you

R: Body shop, Victoria Secrets, this one

I: Dove… What’s your opinion on each of these adverts?

R: Each one?

I: Yeah, like Dove.

R: For example Body shop? I think they all pass the message that it doesn’t matter what do you

look like. Like, if you respect yourself or have the confidence you’re always very beautiful. I think

they all pass the same message.

I: Oh yeah, and Victoria secret?

R: Yeah, um, always think yourself very sexy and I think they are all about confidence, like the

women who have the confidence will be the most beautiful.

I: Yeah, ok, that is the same opinion you have about all of them?

R: You mean, do I agree with this?

I: Ah, no… not yet [both laugh]

R: Yes, I think they all pass this kind of message.

I: So, could you describe the theme of all of these adverts together?

R: Describe the female on the advert?

I: No, the theme… Would you say that they have a common theme?

R: Film?

I: A common theme… A common message, like they send the same message.

R: sorry?

I: would you say all of these adverts, each of them, they send a similar message?

R: Ah, yeah

I: Yeah? Can you describe the message?

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R: Yeah the message is that, I think they want to say that beautiful is not just about your face,

your body. You have very different types of beautiful from inside of you.

I: Yeah, ok. Would you say that the adverts send a message beyond selling a product? (repeated)

R: Sorry?

I: In other words, do participants believe these campaigns are simply trying to sell their products,

or are these adverts concerned about sending an important message?

R: Can I read it?

I: Yeah… In other words, do participants believe these campaigns are simply trying to sell their

products or are they concerned to send a nice message?

R: Oh yeah, they are more than just selling their product, they’re trying to pass this kind of

concept too.

I: Why do you think they are trying to sell a concept?

R: Well I think obviously if they say… I think all of the adverts basically say that even if you’re not

a super model, even if you’re not super beautiful you can still have the right to make yourself

beautiful and if they say to all of the customers that “you don’t deserve to use our products if you

are not a super model” then obviously nobody will buy that. So, they have to say that. They have

to give you confidence, make yourself feel you deserve to enjoy this kind of thing and you will

have, you will be motivated to buy these things.

I: Ok. What do like about the adverts that promote the real/natural beauty of woman, like this

sort of campaigns?

R: How do I like it?

I: What do you like about them?

R: Ah, what do I like about them? I can’t say I really like them.

I: Ok

R: Because adverts, they’re are all about how to lie to customers and I don’t really believe this. I

mean, we will all say that beautiful is not all about your face or your body, but we will always

consider women with beautiful face and sexy body would be beautiful.

I: Yeah

R: Yeah, so I don’t know. I probably would like to shop somewhere they would just tell you “you

have some not beautiful things on you, but we will try our best to cover it or correct it”.

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I: Oh, ok

R: I think I would be more interested in that kind of thing.

I: Oh, ok. Yeah that’s good. So you’ve just said what you don’t like about the adverts. Have you

ever suspected these companies are promoting an ethical message in order to boost their sales?

R: Yeah, of course. Like, for example, body shop is quite honestly to put this kind of image. But

Victoria Secret… if you do say that everybody can have a sexy body why don’t you just use some

oversized models to do this? Why still use supermodels?

I: Yeah

R: Because only eight have supermodel bodies.

I: Yeah, that’s true. So you are saying that they are being more honest?

R: Yeah

I: Ah ok. Do you believe these adverts help improve women’s self-esteem? And what are you

reasons?

R: Maybe… I would think this not [points to Victoria secret]. Because…

I: Victoria Secrets

R: Because they are not really lots of things on it. I think this probably would [points to

Selfridges].

I: Selfridges

R: Because, I feel this is more sincerely trying to sing this kind of concept. Because at least they

have words to have things to read, and it just feels more genuinely?

I: Genuine

R: Yeah

I: Ok. Does it have an influence on you? Does it improve your self-esteem?

R: Well this probably [points to Selfridges]

I: Selfridges. Why?

R: Because, I don’t know. I haven’t really read everything, but I think probably because of these

words.

I: Because of what they say?

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R: Yeah.

I: Ok. How genuinely concerned with the self-esteem of women do you believe these companies

are?

R: I don’t know. Maybe, Body shop, because Body shop seems like a company that cares about

your health and everything, not just your beauty. Yeah, probably Body shop.

I: Let me see. Would you say that the emotional messages of these adverts would make women

become more loyal to them?

R: Become loyal?

I: Loyal to these companies, because they send emotional messages?

R: Yeah, probably. If I, for example, am a loyal customer of Victoria Secret, I probably would be

more loyal. But if I’m just not that crazy about this brand, I don’t think this campaign will change

my mind.

I: Oh Ok, I see. So, in your opinion is there anything wrong with these campaigns… with each of

these campaigns?

R: Um, no. Although I still believe they’re just trying to sell the products instead of helping women

build their self-esteem. But still that’s a good message to pass.

I: Ok. How would you describe… Oh you said it.

R: Sorry [Both laugh]

I: No it’s good. I just need to ask detailed questions.

R: I had this kind of experience when I did my interviews.

I: Would you say these adverts are sincere when they claim to care about women’s self-esteem?

R: Sorry are they…

I: Sincere when they claim…

R: Um, not really. I think that the more beautiful woman they put on the campaign, the less

sincere they are.

I: So are you saying that Victoria secret, when they...

R: yeah, well I think this one is really sincere [points to Dove].

I: Dove?

R: Yeah, because they definitely put very different women on it. Yeah.

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I: And Victoria secret?

R: Not really.

I: Ok. Is there a particular advert here that you think is particularly sincere?

R: Probably this one [points to Dove].

I: Dove. Ok.

R: Because of… just different colour, different shape.

I: Ok. Is there a particular one that you think is not sincere?

R: I don’t think you need to ask.

I: Victoria Secret? Yeah. Ok [Both laugh]. It’s funny this… You have previously defined… I forgot to

ask that. Ok. Can you just describe the type of business of these companies very quickly?

R: uh, type?

I: Yeah. What does the Body shop do? Victoria Secret do?

R: Cosmetics, skincare, body care. This is lingerie [points to Victoria Secret], bras. I think this is,

they do everything [points to Selfridges]. This is skincare [points to Dove]. Yeah.

I: Ok. So, would you say that these campaigns –real/natural beauty campaigns- match the type of

business that they are in?

R: It’s kind of a paradox. They say that yourself is the most beautiful but they still sell products to

make yourself more beautiful. If you think I am beautiful enough why do things to change me?

I: Yeah I know. So what is your opinion about the motives behind this campaign?

R: I think we should ask these companies these kind of questions.

I: Why they contradict each other?

R: Yeah. I think that’s the reason why they don’t look really sincere.

I: Because?

R: Because, if I really appreciate your face your body, why do I still sell you the products to

change you.

I: Ah ok.

R: Like, I have this kind of concept, but I’m still advising you to change yourself. So, that makes

them not very sincere.

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Transcript 3

I: So, Have you seen any of these campaigns before?

R: No actually, I have not seen any of them before.

I: No? Ok

R: Maybe that, but on television.

I: On television? It can be on television.

R: Oh, ok.

I: Which of these companies are familiar to you?

R: I use dove cream because I like the taste, like the smell. And… but If I had to choose among all

of them, my favourite one, I would say Victoria Secret.

I: Ah ok, but do you know Body shop and…

R: Yeah, Yeah I know all of them. I use also Body shop.

I: And Selfridges? You don’t know?

R: No, I don’t know it.

I: Ok. In your own words how would you describe the business of these companies?

R: Beauty. Beauty, Cosmetics, Clothes.

I: Oh Ok. And what’s your opinion about the adverts?

R: Do you mean each of them?

I: Each of them, yeah.

R: That one I know has another target [points to Dove]. It tries to target its campaign to older

women. But if I choose, I told you the best one, for me, is Victoria Secret because I relate more to

it, because every girl wants to become like Victoria secret model. So probably my aspirational

standard would be Victoria secret. Body shop is quite scary honestly.

I: Ah ok, that’s true. Everyone says that. Would you say that these campaigns have a common

theme?

R: Yeah, selling a product.

I: No the theme of the adverts.

R: The topic?

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I: The topic, yeah. No? Ok, I can tell you. I defined it as the real and natural beauty campaigns.

R: Is it? Because, this one doesn’t look particularly natural.

I: Victoria secret? Yeah, that’s true but it’s just because they say “I love my body” in the... and here

they say “body for everybody. So they…

R: But, it’s not exactly for everybody. True.

I: So do you have any more comments for this campaign?

R: But I think that it’s completely Photoshop(ed). You can see that it is impossible for having legs

like this, I mean they are too skinny compared to the rest of the body. The body is too long.

I: That’s true. I’ll carry on the next question then. Would you say that these adverts have a

message beyond a product… selling a product?

R: Yeah they are trying to understand which one is the perfect body. That one says the perfect

body is flaws, Victoria secret says the perfect body is flawless, and it depends on the person that

is looking at them. Which are the aspirations of this person, so for me, it would be Victoria secret.

For another person maybe a little bit older or maybe… yeah, it’s not so… how do you say? Spoiled

by advertisement. The way a good body would be… the body shop campaign or Dove campaign.

I: So you would say that they have a message beyond selling a product, which is?

R: Having the perfect body. I don’t know. It’s quite difficult because body shop wants to sell a

product that is related to a body which is not perfect. But the meaning is that you can become

perfect in your own way. Instead in Victoria secret there is only one way to be perfect, and it is

having a body like a model.

I: Ah ok. But do you think that Victoria secret is trying to be like Dove?

R: I think that they are different target…but, the message is still the same. Having a body in which

you feel comfortable. In this case it is having a perfect body, in that case it is having a body with

flaws, but still having a body that you want.

I: What do you think about adverts that promote the real/natural beauty of women?

R: I think that they are quite fake, all of them.

I: Yeah? Why?

R: Because at the end of the day they are always trying to sell products, so some of them they are

trying to sell them say that a body with flaws is more beautiful than a body without. But at the

end of the day, what they are trying to do is targeting the people that they want to sell the

product to and try to achieve their own interest.

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I: What do you like about the adverts that promote the real/natural beauty? A particular thing

that you like?

R: I don’t know. Like the body shop?

I: All of them in general.

R: I think they are more real than the Victoria Secret campaign. I fi had to buy a product, I would

look to Victoria secret but maybe thinking better I would think “ok, I will never achieve this kind

of standard, maybe the campaign with the ugly girl is more close to myself.”

I: Which one?

R: Like, this one with the people in their underwear [Dove].

I: So you don’t really like anything about these campaigns? Is that what you’re saying?

R: More or less.

I: So what don’t you like about them?

R: Which one?

I: All of them?

R: This one… The Victoria secret campaign, to me, is too fake, and also it promotes an image of

women that is too different from reality. To me also it allows the possibility for some to get upset

and… get upset about their own bodies, and start not eating enough.

I: Do you think the models are consistent with the message they are trying to send?

R: Yeah, it’s absolutely not consistent. Because I love my body, yes. Obviously I love your body

too, because it’s perfect.

I: Have you suspected that these companies are promoting an ethical message in order to boost

sales?

R: I think that the most unethical is the Victoria Secret campaign, but also the dove campaign, to

me. Ok, they are trying to target a kind of woman, like a little bit overweight, so more close to

reality because most of the women… I’m not saying that all of them are overweight but they are

not perfect like Victoria secret models, but anyway they are trying to reach their own interest

too. Like, targeting more normal girl but…

I: What about Selfridges? This one.

R: Yeah, probably this one is the one that I prefer.

I: Why?

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R: Because, the dove campaign, ok there are all overweight people. The Victoria secret campaign,

instead there are anorexic models. In this one [points to Selfridges] there are people who seem,

ok not completely normal. But they are people you see on your way to get to the library at the

university.

I: Ok. Do you believe these adverts help improve women’s self-esteem?

R: Absolutely, the one with the anorexic models, no. Not even Dove, because… Ok, I think “ok my

body is more or less like one of these models” but I don’t like it at all so…

I: Why don’t you like it?

R: Because to me it is overweight a little. Instead this campaign, the Selfridges, there is, I mean

more normal one.

I: And what about the Body shop?

R: I don’t understand anything of this. Honestly why did they do it at all?

I: they say “there are three billion women who don’t look like supermodels and only eight who

do”. Basically I think it is representing the girls. I’ll go to the next question. Does it influence your

self-esteem?

R: I don’t know because nowadays I see pictures of women everywhere so even if they are

skinnier than me, even if they are fatter than me, I don’t care. I relate more with normal people

that I meet…

I: … everyday?

R: Yeah

I: How genuinely concerned with the self-esteem of women do you believe these companies are?

R: Sorry can you repeat?

I: How genuinely concerned with the self-esteem of women do you believe they are? Do you think

they are genuine?

R: Bah! I think that Dove try to be concerned about self-esteem, but I think they emphasise too

much. To me they shouldn’t give so much thought about women’s body and stop talking about it,

and just show an image that is just normal but not so… like the model in that campaign are too fat

for me. They try to exaggerate too much, to me they shouldn’t give too much attention to this

kind of characteristics. They should just should have a normal model, with a normal body. Not

overweight or over-skinny. So to me Victoria secret are probably less concerned among all of

them. But also dove, it tries to be concerned in a concealed way.

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I: I see. So would you say that the emotional message of these adverts make women more loyal to

the brands?

R: I think that many girls are attached to the image of Victoria secret models, absolutely, because,

I told you it is the best standard you can achieve. But also older women can be attached to the

kind of image that Dove wants to give because they can relate more to it.

I: So, but do you think these girls that, they like… they feel pressured, for example to be like the

Victoria secret models, but do you think when they see the dove campaign they think “Oh, it’s

nice that they are trying to make me feel better” and then decide to become loyal to them because

of that?

R: I think that they completely dismiss this idea most of them. It depends on the person, maybe

the person is more aware of this kind of marketing. They can think “ok, maybe the dove campaign

is more ethical compared to the others, to the Victoria secret” but the people are completely…

they don’t know marketing principle, they don’t know exactly how these things work, so

probably when they see the dove campaign they completely dismiss it.

I: Ok. In your opinion is there anything wrong with these campaigns?

R: Yeah, I told you the Victoria secret models are too skinny. The Dove models are too overweight

to me. And I like that [Points to Selfridges], the body shop campaign is just scary, I don’t know.

And the Selfridges is absolutely the best one. But I don’t know, is it promoting clothes? Why does

it have to only show the face of old women?

I: They sell everything, like from clothes to makeup. Yeah, everything. Watches, accessories.

R: Yeah, anyway, the least ethical is the Victoria secret.

I: And the most ethical?

R: Probably Selfridges. Also Body shop maybe because I don’t understand it.

I: My sister actually didn’t understand this one either. How would you describe… ah no, you just

said. Would you say that these adverts are sincere when they claim to care about women’s self-

esteem?

R: The Victoria secret advertisement, not at all. But at least it gives the message that you can

always improve your body. Instead, in Dove, they take your body for granted, you cannot do

anything else to change it, you can just do the cream that, I don’t know, just smells good, but I

doesn’t help you to become, like to have a better body. Victoria secret, at least you can try to have

a better body… going to the gym, something else.

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I: So the fact that they are selling creams, do you think that they are trying to improve these girls’

bodies?

R: Nah.

I: No? Ok

R: I don’t think they are actually related to the product they are selling. They are just trying to be

kind of ethical. Just attracting public attention.

I: Is there particularly an advert that you think is sincere between all of them? A particular one?

R: I would say Selfridges.

I: and for what reason is that?

R: It seems the one that shows more normal people.

I: And is there a particular advert that you think is not sincere?

R: Victoria secret advertisement, because they show only very skinny models.

I: You have previously defined the type of business of these companies. Would you say that these

campaigns match the type of business that these companies are in?

R: Yeah. Absolutely yes because Dove campaign is targeting older women so it’s trying to…

maybe older women, they are already aware of the fact that their bodies, like this, cannot change.

Instead, young women are still affected by the Victoria secret campaign, because they know they

are, most of them, insecure about their body. I remember when I was an adolescent, for example,

that I was striving to have a body like this. Now I accept it like it is, but yes, I think that if I was

younger I would look only to the Victoria secret campaign, just dismissing the other ones

I: In conclusion, what is your opinion about the motives behind these campaigns?

R: To me, the real interest is not selling the product because honestly you can see very little about

the product they are selling. The main reason is targeting the person, the people, that they want

to become the customers.

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Transcript 4

I: So, have you seen any of these ad campaigns before? Are they familiar to you?

R: Yeah, I’ve seen the Dove one before. And… yeah that’s the only one.

I: Which of these companies are familiar to you?

R: Dove, Selfridges. Is this one Victoria secret? Body shop. Ok, all of them.

I: In your own words, how would you describe the business of these companies? each of them.

R: The business?

I: What do they do?

R: ah, ok. So, Dove is beauty products, like lotions, shampoos, things like that. Yeah, basically

beauty industry. Body shop is health and beauty, well more beauty actually but with a focus on

environmentally friendly and against animal testing. Things like that, they’re very ethical. Victoria

secret is lingerie. And Selfridges, I thought Selfridges does a bit of everything like perfumes,

beauty stuff.

I: Yeah, yeah. That’s good. What’s your opinion on these adverts, each of them? What do you think

about them?

R: I think the dove ones are very… they try to show what real people look like. So, I like their ads

but I don’t know if it catches the eye of a lot of people. Victoria secret is very, what’s the word, it

shows you what the media says the ideal person should look like. But, yeah, their ads are very

sexy and stuff like that but they have to be because it’s lingerie. The body shop ones; I’ve never

seen those campaigns before. It looks like promoting self-esteem and just being in your natural

element. And the Selfridges one looks like they’re just trying to target different types of, all types

of people. Like different ideas of what people are. I don’t know if that makes sense.

I: It makes sense. Yeah, I like your point. So, would you say that these adverts have a common

theme?

R: common theme? hmmm. Beauty, or image.

I: Yeah, that’s how I have classified it. You saw the point, I would say it anyway. How would you

describe the theme? You said beauty, of course. I’m repeating the question sorry. Would you say

that these adverts have a message beyond selling a product?

R: Yeah, I think the Body shop ones and the Dove ones do. Like… Yeah, they have a direct message

they’re trying to show you that it’s fine to be you. Actually even the Selfridges one, because

they’re showing different types of people. And the Victoria secret one, I don’t think it’s like an

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explicit message like right out there. It’s a very hidden message that this is what you should

aspire to be, or try to be, well that’s what I get from it.

I: So what do you mean?

R: They are not really, outright, saying “This is what you should look like” or whatever, but with

the images that they put out with having models and everything, like people with perfect bodies,

perfect skin, perfect everything, they have this message that implies that this is what you should

look like.

I: So are you saying that… are you comparing the image with what they say there?

R: umm, no I was just using the pictures to be honest.

I: Ok, yeah that’s fine. And the Body shop? You said that.

R: Yeah, I thought that the Body shop ones and the Dove ones tried to just show you just to be

you. That is the message they are trying to put across.

I: What do you like about adverts that promote the real/natural beauty of women?

R: I think they’re different, so that’s good, I like that.

I: How, different?

R: Because, we’re not used to seeing real people in adverts. We’re used to adverts like the Victoria

secret one. So I think it’s good that they’re trying to show… they’re trying to put out a different

way of advertising. You know, showing people that it’s fine to be your natural self, or in your

element, or whatever. So I think it’s good, I think it’s a good idea, although I don’t know if they

attract as many people’s attention like these, the Victoria secret type. Because, we’re used to

seeing this type, and not like real people. But I think they’re good, I think the natural ones are

really good. It’s a good idea and I think more companies should do that.

I: Ok. So, are you saying that the Victoria secret is different from the other ones?

R: Yes, very different.

I: Have you ever suspected that these companies are promoting an ethical message in order to

boost sales?

R: I don’t think it’s really unethical. I think it’s just, ok that’s tricky. Ok because the Victoria secret

one, is the one that I see is different from all the others. I don’t think it’s very realistic, but I don’t

think I’d call it unethical because they’re not forcing you to buy, they’re just promoting their

product.

I: How would you describe the campaign?

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R: Sexy.

I: What do you think about the logo [slogan]?

R: I like it. But I don’t think it goes with the pictures.

I: Ok that’s fine.

R: I don’t know if my answers make sense.

I: No, it makes sense. It is very critical, I like it. So essentially, what did you say? Do you think they

use this message to boost the sales or not?

R: I think they definitely do. I think the Victoria secret one uses that message to boost sales. I

don’t know about the others. I think the others are just showing what it is to be real. So I don’t

think that they’re necessarily trying to boost sales. Actually yeah, they are but through

advertising in a different way than the usual.

I: Ok, do you see any similarity between Victoria secret and these campaigns?

R: I hadn’t’ looked at this one. Is it different?

I: I’m just asking.

R: Yeah, I think it is the one different one out of all the others.

I: Do you believe these adverts help improve women’s self-esteem?

R: Yeah, except the Victoria secret one.

I: I agree. Why do you think these ones help improve women’s self-esteem, and why do you think

Victoria secret don’t improve women’s self-esteem.

R: Because they show what real people look like, these others. Like the Selfridges one shows all

sorts of different people; old, you, eccentric, you know just different. How different people are.

Then the Dove ones show different body types, different body shapes. You know, not perfect, not

toned, they don’t look like they starve themselves or live in the gym or whatever. They just look

like real, normal, everyday people. And the Body shop ones show, like this one shows, their

environmental stance, like just natural and out there. Yeah, so I think they do.

I: They do? Improve… ok. Do you think it has an influence on you?

R: On me? hmmm. Kind of.

I: So does it improve your self-esteem? Do you feel better?

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R: Oh, in that way, no. For me, it’s just advertising. I don’t have any, I wouldn’t say I have any

emotional connection to what they’re putting out but maybe it’s because I can see the difference

in what they’re doing.

I: How genuinely concerned with the self-esteem of women do you believe these companies are?

R: I think they’re all very concerned. The messages they’re all trying to put across definitely show

that they are concerned with women’s self-esteem.

I: All of them?

R: All of them, in different ways. Well, the Victoria secret one is different from the others. So, the

others are concerned that women’s self-esteem is going down because of images they see from

adverts like the Victoria secret one that’s way they take a different take. And then the Victoria

secret one, I think, they’re aware of how many women aspire to have bodies like this, have the

perfect body, perfect figure, perfect height, whatever. So they’re using that to get their message

across so it is impacting women’s self-esteem but in a different way from the others.

I: So you’re saying that the Victoria secret one is sending the same message as the other ones?

R: No, it’s a different message. But all of them are based on self-esteem.

I: Ok, so you are saying it’s a message based on self-esteem as well?

R: Yeah. Because they are trying to say “love your body” or whatever but the image they put

across is like a perfect body. You can only love your body if it’s perfect, if it’s strong, if it’s sexy. So,

it is targeting your self-esteem but in a different way.

I: How different?

R: Like umm. Because they know that this is what women, not all women, a lot of women are

trying to get. They’re trying to get a perfect body. Perfect hair, perfect everything. Like, a lot of

women are striving for perfection and that is a self-esteem issue. So they are using their images

and their slogan to target that by saying that you’ll love your body if it looks like this, if you wear

this. That kind of thing.

I: Would you say that the emotional messages of these adverts make women more loyal to these

brands?

R: The… what message?

I: Emotional messages, like these self-esteem messages. Do you think it makes women loyal to…

R: Loyal?

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I: More attached to the companies… make them want to buy their products rather than another

one.

R: I don’t know if it would. I think loyalty comes from actually using the brand not necessarily

from advertising. I think that advertising definitely makes you want to try it but I don’t know if it

creates loyalty.

I: I see. It’s a good point. In your opinion is anything wrong with these campaigns.

R: Wrong? No.

I: Would you say these adverts are sincere when they claim to care about women’s self-esteem?

R: Yeah, I think they are… but not the Victoria secret one.

I: Ok yeah. I know. And why would you say they are sincere then? Apart from Victoria secret.

R: Why? Because they are trying to show you that you don’t have to look a certain way to be

accepted, to have high self-esteem. They’re trying to say just be who you are, and that’s fine.

I: Ok. Is there a particular advert that you think is more sincere than the others? How would you

put them in order of sincerity?

R: That’s a hard question. I don’t know how.

I: Well, you can say “I think they’re all the same level…”

R: I think they are all the same because they are trying to put out the same message. Actually

maybe Selfridges first, then Dove…

I: And then?

R: I think the body shop one is saying… it’s sincere but it kind of targets only a particular group of

people. But the Selfridges one and the Dove one just target generally everyone.

I: Ok. Who do you think they are targeting here?

R: The body shop one looks like it targets women who are trying to be natural and just out there,

you don’t have to… it’s not really… like it just shows one image, one type of…

I: …woman

R: Yeah.

I: Oh, ok and what type of woman? Natural and… what do you mean by out there?

R: Natural and cares about the environment.

I: Oh ok. Makes sense, didn’t think about that.

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R: Out there is probably the wrong word to use.

I: What is “out there”?

R: ‘Out there’ is just like, ok in my head, out there is very extreme, I don’t know like just people

who take natural to a whole new level.

I: Like is there a group you can think of?

R: Is there a group I can think of? Actually this eco-feminist stuff that I’m reading about; there’s

different groups of eco-feminists. But one group of eco-feminists, who I think are really extreme,

and this, I’d actually… makes me think of them. They basically believe that women are connected

to their environment so if the environment is in “pain” in quotes or whatever, the damage that

happens to the environment affects women directly. I believe in that, so I agree with that, but

they’re extreme because for them it is a spiritual connection; women are connected to the

environment because we have a spiritual bond with the environment so when I see this I think of

that.

I: Do you know the name of this group of feminists?

R: Well, they’re just eco-feminists but then based on their beliefs they are a smaller group of eco-

feminists. I don’t think they have a particular name, they’re just a different strand of eco-

feminists.

I: That’s interesting.

R: I didn’t know they exist until I start reading this book. So this picture actually, that’s the first

thing I thought when I saw it.

I: Maybe it’s based on that. It’s a good point. I’ll look into it, maybe it’s useful. Which one do you

think is particular not sincere then?

R: Not sincere? The Victoria secret one. I think they’re… hmm sincere… Yeah, Victoria secret I

don’t know how to phrase what I’m thinking about but yeah, I guess Victoria secret.

I: Yeah, ok. Why?

R: Ok, that’s the problem I don’t know how to put it in words. Are they sincere? I think that what

their logo says and what they show, the picture, just doesn’t really go together.

I: Yeah, ok. I see your point. Ok, you have previously defined the type of business that these

companies are in. So would you say that their campaigns match the type of business that these

companies are in?

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R: I this Dove one, I don’t think so. Well, yeah but it could be anything. If I didn’t know this was

dove I would think it was a lingerie ad.

I: Ok so why do you think it doesn’t match Dove? Like, the beauty campaign doesn’t match Dove?

R: Because they’re showing women in underwear. So, if I didn’t know it was a beauty campaign or

a dove campaign I’d think they were advertising underwear.

I: Ok. I see.

R: And then the Selfridges one, yeah well… yeah, yeah.

I: Why?

R: Actually this Selfridges one is a bit confusing because it could be anything.

I: Ok so you think it doesn’t match?

R: Not really. Because if I hadn’t read this part “what is your definition of beauty” and this “hello

beautiful”, I wouldn’t have known what they were trying to do.

I: Yeah but if you knew, like they are all beauty campaigns. Would you say it matches this type of

business, like the things that they do?

R: Yeah, Yeah.

I: Ok I see. Why?

R: I don’t know it’s just…

I: Just fits in with what they do, ok yeah. So, last question: What’s your opinion about the motives

behind these campaigns?

R: The motives? Well, it kind of relates to what we said before. I think most of them are trying to

show: just appreciate who you are. You can use our products no matter who you are, where

you’re from. No matter your beliefs, no matter what you look like. Anyone can use it. Yeah,

motives I guess to just show people that you can buy our products despite who you are. The

Selfridges one, I mean Victoria secret, I’m getting confused now. The Victoria secret one; I think

their motive is just “make money”. All of them have a motive of making money but this one is

outright. Using these images like they know these will promote sales for them.

I: Ok. That’s it.

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Transcript 5

I: Have you seen any of these campaigns before?

R: Yes. I think, Dove.

I: What about the others?

R: No, nothing about the body shop.

I: And Selfridges, no?

R: No. What is this actually?

I: It was the project for real beauty.

R: No.

I: Beauty project is the name of the campaign actually.

R: Victoria secret; I recognise maybe the models and all that. So maybe I am more familiarised

with that.

I: And which of these companies are familiar to you?

R: Ok. This campaign about beauty project; I never heard about it before.

I: Do you know Selfridges? Is Selfridges familiar to you?

R: Yeah. Selfridges, the store… the department store. Yes, yes. Does Selfridges do this?

I: Yeah that’s Selfridges.

R: Ok. No I’ve never seen this. But yes, I am familiar with Dove, Body shop and Victoria secret, in

different ways obviously.

I: How do you mean different ways?

R: Ok because maybe when I think about Dove I think about clean products. Healthy… not

healthy, but for beauty. And then for Victoria secret I recognise it by her undies and bra and

everything like that. And maybe the body shop one is for soaps and creams.

I: Ok, and Selfridges?

R: Selfridges; I haven’t seen this beauty project I familiarise Selfridges a bit more with, like, a

department store. In which you can find purses or some clothes or something like that.

I: What’s your opinion on each of these adverts?

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R: Ok, I like that they use many types of bodies and colours, and types of hair, and types of skin. I

like that they don’t just focus on the perfect body or the perfect skin, or the perfect haircut. It

seems to be natural. And Victoria secret… It’s what I think about them, right?

I: Yeah. On the adverts, yeah.

R: Victoria secret I think that when you saw one advert of Victoria secret you want to have the

advert or… Like its asp…

I: Aspirational?

R: Aspirational image so… I don’t want to be like any model of them but they are beautiful and

they are perfect.

I: Oh. So you mean the models make you want to use the product?

R: Exactly. Use the products or get involved with the brand. Maybe not to use what they are

wearing but you can imagine that that brand, if maybe go to a store, you will get great stuff.

I: So what about this one? The Dove one, would you say that you want to use the products as

well?

R: Yes. I would use them. I don’t know why I match… do you say match?

I: Match?

R: Ok I don’t know if you say familiarise or recognise this brand. I think it is all like creamy.

Everything, if you use the shampoo, it’s creamy shampoo, or the soap, the body soap; it’s creamy

soap. I think all Dove products are so creamy. I wouldn’t use all of them but actually I love the

body soap.

I: Ok. Is that because of the ad… does the ad help you, make you want to use it?

R: No, no.

I: Why not?

R: If I see the advert maybe I wouldn’t say “I’m gonna use this product”, I just like the way they do

their campaigns.

I: What about the other ones? What’s your opinion about these ones then?

R: This one. What’s that advertising? I don’t get it [Body shop].

I: you can look at that one if you want, it’s the same one. That’s just a magazine cover.

R: Ok. Body shop is like, I always match it with natural products. I think it’s a good campaign.

Because they are focusing on its main message, or slogan. I forgot the word, but I like this.

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Because, it matches with the essence of the brand. They are not showing you perfect models, they

are showing you natural things. Like, even with the green scenario, it’s nice.

I: And lastly, the Selfridges one. What’s your opinion?

R: What’s this campaign about?

I: It’s the beauty project. Trying to show the contemporary beauty. Like, there are many different

types of beauty nowadays.

R: Ok. They show you different types of beauty. And they have to choose one or what?

I: No they just say that… firstly, what’s your opinion about this one? Do you get it?

R: No.

I: I’ll ask you the next question. Would you say that these adverts have a common theme, then?

Common message?

R: Yes. Like, beauty. In different ways but they’re all focused on body and beauty.

I: And would you say that these adverts have a message beyond selling a product?

R: Yes, I think, like, body shop, Victoria secret and dove; they do.

I: Like what?

R: Dove; I think the message is accept your body and just take care of it, whatever your body or

your colour is, just take care of it. And then Victoria secret I think the main message is trying to

get in your mind that this is the perfect woman even [if] it’s not. But, I think that is the main

purpose they want to… like perfectionism. And Body shop, maybe their main message is, like,

back to basics and simple things.

I: So from what you are saying it sounds like you think the Victoria secret one is different from

the others.

R: Yes, obviously.

I: What do you like about the adverts that promote the real and natural beauty of women?

R: What do I like of them?

I: Yeah, what do you like about them? What do you think about them?

I think it’s nice, they’re nice because nowadays everyone, like… all the things you see on TV and

in the magazines, they try and be like perfect, even though you see like, you can see like makeup

ads or whatever, and even women that are so old they seem to have perfect skin and they don’t.

Maybe in reality you see them and they have terrible skin. So I think that these types of ads like

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Body shop and Dove, they, as I already told you, get you back to basics, and what reality is.

Because we are not perfect, you can be beautiful, you can be pretty without being perfect, so I like

them.

I: What don’t you like about these adverts? What are the negative things that you see in these

types of adverts?

R: Dove, I think it’s ok. The Body shop I don’t know. The doll is a little bit strange but their

message is ok. And maybe they are using this doll as if it was a Barbie or something… a fat Barbie.

I don’t know. And Victoria secret as I already told you; perfectionism and… I’m not totally accord

with this. I don’t agree totally with this.

I: You don’t think it’s related, ok. Have you ever suspected that these companies are promoting

these messages in order to boost sales?

R: Yes, obviously.

I: Why?

R: Because, they want to show people that they understand them. That they know what they

want, they know what people want. When you, as a customer, when you see these, you feel like

“Oh, Dove is understanding my needs”, or Body shop. So, maybe you get familiarised with the

brand and you go and shop at…

I: Do you believe these adverts help improve women’s self-esteem?

R: Yes.

I: Why?

R: Because they show you many different types of women. So even, whatever the hair you have or

the body you have, or the eyes you have, or the legs or whatever. You can just get involved with

one of it, you can say like “Oh, my legs are like this”, or “my arms are like this”, so you can get

involved with the brand.

I: So does it have an influence on you? Help improve your self-esteem, or I don’t know.

R: No. No I don’t think so.

I: How genuinely concerned with the self-esteem of women do you believe these companies are?

Do you think they are genuine?

R: Sorry, can you repeat me the question?

I: How genuinely concerned with the self-esteem of women do you believe these companies are?

It’s confusing?

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R: Sorry, yes I don’t understand.

I: It’s too long. Do you think they are really concerned or not? They are just doing this as an

advert.

R: Ah ok, ok. No, I think they try to make us think that they are concerned but at the end what

they want is to continue selling. So I don’t believe all of this is just for a good purpose.

I: Would you say that these adverts make women more loyal to these brands because of the

messages?

R: No. Victoria secret and body shop, no. Maybe Dove does.

I: Why Victoria secret and body shop no, and Dove, yes?

R: Can you repeat me the question again, I just…

I: Yeah, if you think these adverts make women more loyal to the brand.

R: Ah, ok. Sorry. Like, Victoria secret is just telling you about… If you see the advert it is just like

“Body: strong, sexy, bold.” They are just talking about the perfect body. They don’t tell you “are

you fat? are you ugly?” or “do you like your body? we can help you”. you know, they just want to

try to fit in perfect bodies. So of course this is not going to make you, as a customer, go into the

brand. And maybe Dove, yes, because they show skin and they show the products. And all the

products are for skin and hair and… And body shop, if this advertisement didn’t tell here “the

body shop”, you can put whatever you want to and people will believe it.

I: What do you mean?

R: You can put… This could be an advert of a magazine, or, I don’t know, a beauty campaign.

Whatever, this doesn’t… If you cross the body shop name you would never guess this

advertisement is from body shop.

I: So would you say that if you didn’t say the name that it was from Dove?

R: But maybe because I have seen more times the campaign, I’m more familiarised with it.

I: Ok, where did I stop? In your opinion is there anything wrong with these campaigns? Do you

see anything wrong with them? That you don’t like?

R: No. I don’t like too much Victoria secret because it’s not real, but the other ones are good.

I: So, how would you describe what’s wrong with Victoria secret then? Because you said you

don’t like that one. How would you describe what’s wrong with this one? Compared to the others

which you think are fine.

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R: I don’t like that this just focus on pretty and beautiful women. They don’t see the different mix

of the customers, so I don’t like it. Like, if you see this ad and, I don’t know, if you are a teenager,

or you are fat, or whatever, you just say “this is not for me”. And if you take Dove you can say “this

is fine, maybe I’m like this or like this…” and they all use this product so maybe I can use this

product.

I: Is there a particular advert, shown here, that you believe is the most sincere? Like, the one you

definitely believe in what they are saying.

R: No.

I: Why?

R: Because maybe, I think that if you really good product it should be a little bit more

[indistinguishable], a little bit less popular. Like, most of the times, things you find in a common

market they work, they are good, but they are not the best ones. If you want for example, an anti-

ageing cream, you are going to find one in the market but it may not be the best one. Even if they

are of a [renowned] brand, of a recognised and big brand, they are not the best ones. So maybe

Dove should have like good soaps and body cream and good shampoo but a professional stylist

would never use dove shampoo for her or his customers.

I: That’s right. So would you say that these real/natural beauty campaigns match the type of

business that these companies operate?

R: Dove is, proctor and gamble?

I: It’s Unilever.

R: Unilever… hmmm. No.

I: No? Why not?

R: Because they are just going with the… that big, big companies as Unilever, or proctor, just go

with the flow. I don’t believe or all their purposes to be green and to be…

I: So would you say for example…

R: No Victoria secret… of course not. And maybe body shop because maybe a little bit smaller

than other brands.

I: So you would say that the type of products they sell match with the campaigns or not?

R: mmm… yes.

I: Which one?

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R: Ok, I think you are confusing so…

I: Ok, we’ll start with Dove then. So they sell beauty products, cosmetics, all of this. So would you

say that their campaign the beauty project matches their product? And the same for the other

ones. What do you think?

R: Body shop; no. Victoria secret; yes, and Dove; yes.

I: Match with the product?

R: Yes.

I: Why?

R: Because, ok, body shop is not showing you any product, nothing. They are just talking

supermodels but they don’t do nothing. They’re not focused on perfect bodies or to help bodies to

be healthier or whatever. They have, from what I think, many natural things. So I think that, of

course, if you see this ad of Victoria secret, and you go to the shop your going to find the same

type of things that they are showing you here. And Dove, yes, what they are showing you; it’s

completely clear that it’s for your skin, for your body and for your hair, whatever. It’s so simple

that you can use it in every part of your body you want. If you think about the body cream, it

matches with the ad. If you think about the hair it matches with the ad. Everything is OK.

I: Finally, what’s your opinion about the motives of these campaigns? It’s the last question. The

motives for having these campaigns, opinions about the motives behind these campaigns…

R: What do you mean with motives?

I: reasons, for having these campaigns.

R: Ok. I think that Body shop and Dove maybe a little bit worried about what is happening in the

world nowadays has to be perfect body, perfect shape, perfect skin, perfect hair, perfect

everything. And that’s not the way, so maybe they want to tell women that “it’s ok, whatever you

are, we understand”. It’s so clear this body shop, they tell you “most of the women, they don’t like

what they see”, and the same with Dove. So, I think they are doing good.

I: Apart from Victoria secret, like you said.

R: No, because they are just fermenting, just increasing what is already done. They are continuing

doing that stereotype in the woman’s mind of being perfect. They’re not worried about any

problem that gets involved all around this. They just want to sell, and to…

I: Continue selling. Ok. Thank you.

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Transcript 6

I: So have you seen any of these campaigns before?

R: This is… Maybe this one

I: Victoria Secret

R: Yeah. Not these, not these. Maybe this and this. But I don’t remember. I never care to read

what’s on it but I remember seeing the images.

I: When you say that, can you say the name of the adverts so I can know?

R: Dove. I’ve seen the Dove ads before. But I’m not sure whether I’ve seen these exact ones.

I: OK. Yeah. It’s just the general campaign they are all the same. So the only one you have seen is

Dove?

R: Yeah, actually this is the first time I am seeing firming cream from Dove. I’ve seen usually for

face washes because we have them in India as well. But this is the first ad I am seeing for firming

cream.

I: And which of these companies are familiar to you?

R: Dove is. Is this Victoria secret? Yes, Victoria secret is. Body shop is. That’s it. Dove, body shop,

and Victoria secret.

I: Not Selfridges?

R: No.

I: In your own words, how would you describe the business of these companies? Like, how would

you describe what they do?

R: Ok. Body shop I think is for more healthier products. Maybe that are, I’m not sure if I’m write,

but organic. Like they don’t use… they’re not tested on animals, I think. Body shop does not test

on animals so I think body shop is good for those who are very conscious about their skin. They

don’t want to put any trashy products on their skin. Dove is… I see it as they always talk about

bringing out the inner beauty in people. And they talk about accepting people of different body

types and skin colour and everything. Like, I saw an ad of dove in India where women actually

were… Like usually in beauty ads they show women with a lot of makeup to make them look

flawless, but that particular ad had women without any makeup. So they speak about, you know,

how makeup and things don’t make you stylish. It’s the inner beauty that comes out with Dove.

I: Ok

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R: So I think that’s about that. Victoria secret, I view it as a… something that, at least back in India,

something that people feel a privilege to own. Not everyone owns Victoria secret, it’s a luxury

basically than a necessity. And this one I’ve never heard of… the Selfridges?

I: Yeah. It’s just a department store.

R: Ok, I never knew that until now. And I don’t know about this one either, the full voice.

I: No, it’s just body shop. It’s just a magazine.

R: Ah, ok. So it’s the body shop ad on the magazine. Alright

I: How you can see, it’s the same doll. So, what’s your opinion on each of these adverts.

R: What’s my opinion? Well, the Victoria secret clearly… Ok, well there is something common

about these ads that I can see.

I: Yeah?

R: All of them are talking about different versions of beauty. Like, if you see the Victoria secret ad

they have a black model as well as blondes and they also have brunettes. So they are… You know

they have a variety of skin tones, and how their products fit everyone. So they are talking about

beauty having different definitions. You know, they are not sticking to conventions. But the only

thing I do notice is that all of them are skinny. So my point is: Is Victoria secret only for skinny

people?

I: Ah, ok yeah.

R: You know, do they not have something for maybe a body type like mine? On the other hand,

with Dove… about firming, I don’t know. I don’t relate to the product at all. I’ve never used it. And

I’ve not even heard about it in India. This is the first time I’m seeing this ad in fact. But, what I do

notice from the ad is that here again they have shown different kinds of people. And they’re

different complexions and different body types, different hair styles, different hair colours. So this

ad is again trying to market different kinds of people. They’re not telling you what conventional

advertising does. A white model with perfect skin and perfect body and they show that that

product is fit for you to become like that. This is not what this ad is saying. It is saying that it is

open for different body types, skin colours, hair, whatever, it doesn’t matter. So that’s what I see

in this ad. In the flawed and flawless one “is beauty skin only ever spotless”, this one starts a

debate about what you call beauty. Because anyone… no one wants spots on their face, so it’s

asking quite a valid question that is beauty only to have spotless skin? A question which even I

would find difficult to answer because if I say that even skin with spots is beautiful, I can’t say

that because I, myself, wouldn’t want skin with spots. So it’s quite a thought provoking question.

About body shop, this is the first time I have seen this ad. It says “there are three billion women

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who don’t look like supermodels, and only eight who do.” So this is again an ad that is saying that

conventional beauty is not the only beauty that exists, there are different people and I think most

of these ads are saying don’t stick to the same idea of beauty, thin and white and a particular kind

of hair. There are different meanings to beauty.

I: Ok.

R: I think that’s what these ads are saying. It’s the same with this one. They have people with

different hair colours, no hair at all. You know, nothing is conventional here. Everything is

different.

I: Ok, yeah. That’s good. So, how would you describe… oh no, sorry. Would you say that these

adverts have a message beyond selling a product?

R: Yes, like I said. Beyond just the product of this ad where it says flawed and flawless, they’re not

talking about the product at all in fact. All they have about the product is the logo. Otherwise you

would not even know that it belongs to this particular brand. It actually seems more like a social

message, than selling a product, this particular ad. Even with body shop it’s the same thing,

they’re talking more about a social message than the product itself. With Victoria secret, I think

they are talking more about the product. Because, even though they say “I love my body”, it all

falls flat when you show only skinny models. Because then it’s like someone would think that

“can you love your body only if it is skinny?” You know, so I think that if they had this title and if

this is genuinely what they are trying to put across in the ad then they should have had different

types of models. If you notice, all these models have the same height even, they could have had

short models as well. They could have had short models as well. You, know, shorter ones taller

ones, and then you say “I love my body”, it makes more sense. So, I think this is more to do with

the product, if it says “find your perfect bra”, than to do with body types.

I: And this one [Selfridges]

R: this one also, I think it is talking about different… about variety. I haven’t read… Yeah, so it’s

talking about “what’s your definition of beauty?”, all of these are beautiful, you know, but again

it’s talking about the same thing. That different people have different ideas of beauty, and it’s

talking about accepting different people, the way they are.

I: Selfridges. I’m just saying so I can hear.

R: Yes that’s Selfridges.

I: What do you like adverts that promote the real and natural beauty of women? What do you like

about them?

R: Because they are not making me feel… no, come again with your question.

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I: So, what do you like about adverts that promote the real, natural beauty of women?

R: I feel that is the kind of advertising that should stay. Because, you know, there are lots of ads

that show, without the product, how a person looks and with the product how they look, and the

difference is too much to be real. You know, like in India we have a fairness cream, there are

people who use fairness creams, I don’t but there are a lot of people who use fairness creams.

And they show how, before using a fairness cream, a girl with a dusky skin complexion, doesn’t

get jobs and doesn’t get a guy to get married with. And then suddenly, after she uses the cream,

she turns so beautiful that she gets all these things in life. So, I think that is the kind of advertising

that needs to be done away with immediately at least in this day and age. I’m ashamed to say that

this kind of advertising still exists and there should be ads that promote the inner beauty. So I

want to know, using your product, how can I make myself beautiful, or how can I make myself

look better, enhance what I already have rather than turning myself into something that I’m

completely not.

I: I see, it is a good point. What don’t you like about the adverts that promote the real and natural

beauty?

R: I don’t like hypocrisy. Of ads that try to say that they are doing that, but actually are not. For

example, the Victoria secret one, it’s about lingerie, everyone wears lingerie so why target only a

particular height, a particular body type, you know? I just feel they could have shown more of a

variety. And I would say the negative point about ads trying to promote natural beauty are that

half of them are only hypocrites and are not actually trying to do that, they are just trying to win

brownie points among the audience.

I: Do you feel any of them are hypocrites?

R: Just this one.

I: Just Victoria secret. Ok. Have you ever suspected that these companies are promoting these

messages in order to boost sales?

R: Yes, yes, also, yes. Because, at the end of the day, all of these are talking about being beautiful.

Like, now body shop says “there are 3 billion women who don’t look like supermodels and only

eight who do”. But they do sell makeup right? You know, so that’s the irony of it.

I: What about Dove?

R: “Dove firming, as tested on real curves.” By real curves do they mean natural curves and not

surgically modified bodies? I’m not sure. So, what was your… oh, do I find any of these ads

hypocritical? Nothing that comes to my mind much, it’s just about this. About the Victoria secret.

And about body shop, you say “there are three billion women who don’t look like supermodels.”

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Then why do you sell makeup and you don’t just sell normal everyday makeup? They also sell

glamorous makeup. So, if they go with that message really then they shouldn’t be selling that kind

of makeup. In my opinion,. That may be wrong.

I: No, no. There is no wrong or right answer. And do you believe these adverts improve women’s

self-esteem?

R: The Victoria secret one doesn’t improve my self-esteem in any way. The dove one though, even

though it is a product that I don’t relate to at all, dove firming, I don’t think I’ve reached the point

where I need to use it, but I think it enhances my self-esteem because I do see curvy people like

me on it. And if people like me can be on an advertising campaign then I don’t feel so bad about

the way I am. Also, about spotless skin, I think it is nice that people such as these are also getting

a face, and are being talked about. A girl like this, a few years ago, would never be on an ad

campaign. But now she is, she has a voice. So I think it is good.

I: So, yeah. I just asked this one didn’t I. Does it help improve your self-esteem?

R: Does it…

I: …Help improve your self-esteem?

R: Yeah, I answered that question right? Some do, some absolutely don’t. Also what I appreciate is

when you talk about beauty they’re not only talking about different, in the Selfridges campaign,

they’re not only talking about different kinds of looks –like different hair and everything- they’re

also talking about going through ages. So right from twenty-two, no twenty is the lowest, to

seventy one, they’re talking about beauty across the ages. And I feel that old people have been

misrepresented or not represented correctly in the media, but now they are starting to. When

you see them on beauty campaigns you know that old is beautiful, you know. Like, everyone gets

the message.

I: Yeah, that’s true.

R: And if more of that happens, I think people will stop feeling bad about ageing.

I: I agree. Could you… How genuinely concerned with the self-esteem of women do you believe

these companies are?

R: Sorry… again

I: How genuinely concerned with the self-esteem of women do you believe these companies are?

Do you think they are genuine?

R: No, not… At the end of the day they have a business to take care of and a product to sell. So

they are not all genuine. I think the point when you have a business, unless you are a non-profit

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organisation, any business will not be genuinely interested completely in the customers’ needs.

At the end of the day they need to make a business. So they will always have their motives first

otherwise the purpose of their business is not met.

I: Would you say that the emotional messages of these adverts make women more loyal to these

brands?

R: Yes, definitely. It does, yes. But that is why they’re doing it, because… can I think of an

example? hmm. No I can’t really think of any example right now, but I know that, when I was in

advertising, that women do make emotional decisions in terms of purchasing. Their purchasing

behaviour is based on emotions and based on their psychology rather than only logic. You know,

even if I don’t need something I might go and buy it because the advertisement appeals to me. I

don’t know that about men, maybe that’s the same with men. But I know about myself. So, I think

these things work on women.

I: In your opinion, what is wrong with these campaigns? Is there anything wrong with these

campaigns?

R: Yeah, like I already said: a company that sells things to enhance your skin and put on makeup,

like body shop talks about “three billion women who don’t look like supermodels”, but maybe I’m

wrong because they have a picture of a naked woman’s body, like a doll, so maybe they’re talking

about the body type, and not the face. But when you say supermodel it’s also got to do with the

face, you know. So that is what I feel is a little off about that product. About Dove, I feel they’re

talking about real curves. If they put firming cream they’re not going to be real anymore. It’s

going to be altered in some way. And if they’re talking about curves… by selling a dove firming

product they’re saying that firm skin is better than non-firm skin. Then it falls flat when they have

another ad that implies that even spotted skin is as good as spotless skin. Because you are talking

about firm products, products to make your body firm. It’s a little hypocritical in my opinion.

I: I see your point. It’s good. Would you say that… no you just answered that, I don’t need to say it.

Is there a particular advert here that you believe is particularly sincere?

R: I think the Selfridges one. I don’t think it is saying anything other than saying that different

people have different definitions of beauty. I don’t see any project that they are selling… Sorry,

any product that they are selling. I don’t see any gains out of it, there may be but I don’t see it, at

least that campaign is not trying to do that. All they’re saying is that different people have

different definitions of beauty. So I think I find this one more genuine.

I: Ok. And is there a particular one that you think is not sincere?

R: The Victoria secret one.

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I: I won’t ask you again why.

R: I’ll give you one more reason. The words under the tag line “I love my body”, it says “is your

body strong? is it sexy? is it bold or flirty?”. What about bodies that are not strong, sexy, bold, or

flirty? So this is clearly not for a person like me or anyone… I mean, you know, it clearly excludes

people like me. I think it is more of a niche category. Though I like to own Victoria secrets

products, it’s not because of the advertising. An ad like this would completely not interest me.

I: You have previously defined the type of business of these companies at the beginning, so would

you say that the campaigns match the type of business that these companies are in?

R: Match the type of business? Yeah, Victoria secret… you mean that the ad matches the business?

I: Yeah the “real beauty” campaigns. Do they…

R: ah, do they match the business?

I: Yeah, the operation… what they do every day.

R: With Dove, I think it does to some extent because it is not about putting anything on your skin

and getting out. It is about creating visible changes in your skin without adding makeup or

something. So I think with that… and their point is basically about people… like they don’t sell

makeup and they’re trying to talk about inner beauty. Although, they are still trying to alter

beauty. But still, I think that this is the closest to the company because there is nothing wrong

with having makeup but their point is about getting inner beauty out, then I think the dove

campaign is more coherent with the brand.

I: Ok, and the other ones… I see. Finally, last question: What’s your opinion about the motives

behind these campaigns?

R: What’s my opinion about the motivations behind these campaigns?

I: Yeah

R: I think the common motivation behind these campaigns are that they are trying to emotionally

target women and sell their product. Except for the… you mean the motivation between the

advertiser… behind the advertisement? yeah, so I think they’re all trying to talk to the woman on

an emotional level. Rather than, you know, when they like say things like “real curves” when they

say thing like “flawed or flawless” in the Dove campaigns. When they say things like “you don’t

have to be a supermodel, there are three billion people who don’t look like that, so it’s fine”,

which body shop is saying. When Selfridges is saying that different people have different

definitions of beauty, and when Victoria secrets is, at least trying, to say “I love my body”, they’re

all trying to appeal to the emotional side of women… rather than… they’re not talking about the

good things about their products. They’re talking more about the genuine women.

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Appendix 4: Screen Shots of the Coding Process

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Appendix 5: Direct Quotes (plotted on the four types of consumer cynicism)

The above graph plots data, in the form of direct quotes, on the dimensions of cynicism as

described by Odou and Pechpeyrou (2011). The numbers on the graph reflect the numbered

quotes below. This graph does not include instances of cynicism directed toward Victoria Secret.

Respondents were so frequently cynical of Victoria Secret that it could affect the results too

dramatically to include it amongst the data. After each quote is the letter ‘R’ and a number e.g. R1,

this indicates the number of the respondent who made the quote.

1) Do these adverts have a common theme? “Yeah, selling a product” R3

2) Of Dove “they are trying to reach their own interest too. Like, targeting more normal girl[s]”

R3

3) “You know, they put plus size models. So that made the buyers like it. By promoting a good

image they make the buyers like it” R1

4) “I think they try to make us think that they are concerned but at the end what they want is to

continue selling. So I don’t believe all of this is just for a good purpose” R5

5) “It doesn’t matter if it’s a skinny girl in the picture or if it’s like plus size model. They are all

trying to promote their image” R1

6) “I can’t say I really like them. Because adverts, they’re all about how to lie to customers and I

don’t really believe this. I mean, we will all say that beautiful is not all about your face or your

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body, but we will always consider women with beautiful face and sexy body would be beautiful”

R2

7) “They think what people would like to see on TV, or on the ads” R1

8) “In a way they are more worried about selling their stuff so they want to promote a good

image” R1

9) “I think the common motivation behind these campaigns are that they are trying to

emotionally target women and sell their product.”.... “They’re all trying to appeal to the emotional

side of women… rather than… they’re not talking about the good things about their products.

They’re talking more about the genuine women” R6

10) “It’s just advertising. I don’t have any, I wouldn’t say I have any emotional connection to what

they’re putting out but maybe it’s because I can see the difference in what they’re doing” R4

11) “At the end of the day, what they are trying to do is targeting the people that they want to sell

the product to and try to achieve their own interest” R3

12) “I still believe they’re just trying to sell the products instead of helping women build their

self-esteem” R2

13) “Big companies as Unilever, or proctor, just go with the flow. I don’t believe or all their

purposes to be green and to be…” R5

14) “No, not [genuinely concerned with women’s self-esteem]… At the end of the day they have a

business to take care of and a product to sell. So they are not all genuine. I think the point when

you have a business, unless you are a non-profit organisation, any business will not be genuinely

interested completely in the customers’ needs.”

15) “At the end of the day they need to make a business. So they will always have their motives

first otherwise the purpose of their business is not met” R6

16) “They have to give you confidence, make yourself feel you deserve to enjoy this kind of thing

and you will have, you will be motivated to buy these things” R2

17) “I think that they are quite fake, all of them. Because at the end of the day they are always

trying to sell products, so some of them they are trying to sell them say that a body with flaws is

more beautiful than a body without. But at the end of the day, what they are trying to do is

targeting the people that they want to sell the product to and try to achieve their own interest”

R3

18) “And I would say the negative point about ads trying to promote natural beauty are that half

of them are only hypocrites and are not actually trying to do that” R6

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19) Then why do you sell makeup and you don’t just sell normal everyday makeup? They also sell

glamorous makeup. So, if they go with that message really then they shouldn’t be selling that kind

of makeup” R6

20) “Yeah, they put in their ad real and natural beauty but they are trying to sell stuff that makes

your hair shinier and your body… the soap makes your skin look softer. They are trying to make

yourself look prettier […] I don’t know if it makes sense because they say ‘natural beauty’” R1

21) “Like, now body shop says “there are 3 billion women who don’t look like supermodels and

only eight who do”. But they do sell makeup right? You know, so that’s the irony of it” R6

22) “It’s kind of a paradox. They say that yourself is the most beautiful but they still sell products

to make yourself more beautiful. If you think I am beautiful enough why do things to change me?”

R2

23) “If I really appreciate your face your body, why do I still sell you the products to change you”

R2

24) “But also at the same time they are excluding, like, girls who are, like, skinnier” R1

25) “About Dove, I feel they’re talking about real curves. If they put firming cream they’re not

going to be real anymore. It’s going to be altered in some way” R6

26) “By selling a dove firming product they’re saying that firm skin is better than non-firm skin.

Then it falls flat when they have another ad that implies that even spotted skin is as good as

spotless skin. Because you are talking about firm products, products to make your body firm. It’s

a little hypocritical in my opinion” R6

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Appendix 6: Application for Ethical Approval

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